William Steele

William Oliver Steele was born April, 23, 1929, in Cass County, Iowa, southeast of Anita, the son of Lewis Edwin Arden and Cleo Dell (Gipple) Steele, and passed away on Saturday, February 22, 2014, at Caring Acres Nursing and Rehab Center in Anita, Iowa.

Bill started country school in Cass County and later attended in Adair County when the family purchased the farm south of Berea. He was baptized and confirmed at the Anita Methodist Church and graduated from Anita High School in 1946.

On April 15, 1951, he was married to Carolyn Lee Busch at the Casey Methodist Church. To this union, three daughters were born - Virginia Lee, Kay Elaine and Gloria Jane. The couple farmed in Adair County until 1994 when they retired and moved to Atlantic, Iowa. Bill and Carolyn moved to Caring Acres in October 2012.
Bill farmed all of his life and especially enjoyed raising cattle and hogs. He treasured visiting with people and believed in community service, serving on many farm related boards, as well as selling seed for Dekalb Genetics and being the Adair & Guthrie County Manager for Archer Oil. He was an active member of the Anita and Atlantic United Methodist Churches, Atlantic Lion's Club, CCMH Auxiliary, Adair and Cass County Farm Bureau, the International and Iowa Flying Farmers, and the Audubon County Traveler's Camping Club. Through the years, Bill and Carolyn and their families and friends enjoyed flying in his Cessna 182 airplane, fishing on the pond, golfing and camping. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and truly loved his "girls" and their families.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis and Cleo Steele, and his brothers-in-law, Jim Chantry and Gerald Busch.

Bill is survived by his wife of over 62 years, Carolyn Steele of Anita, IA; his daughters, Virginia (Randall) Jensen of Carroll, IA, Kay (Dean) Hansen of Anita, IA and Gloria (Armin) Thielking of West Des Moines, IA; his grandchildren, Kimberly (Patrick) Vollstedt of Carroll, IA, Kevin Jensen of Exira, IA, Natalie (Grant) Kimberley of Ankeny, IA, Nathan (Terri) Hansen of Stuart, IA, Garrett (Anne) Thielking of Des Moines, IA and Aaron Thielking of Ankeny, IA; his great-grandchildren, Brennan Vollstedt of Carroll, IA, Austin Kimberley of Ankeny, IA and Ada and Isaac Hansen of Stuart, IA; his sisters-in-law, Mary Ann Chantry of Atlantic, IA and Joyce Busch of Omaha, NE; and many other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be held with family present from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, 2014, at the United Methodist Church in Anita, Iowa.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 5, 2014, at the United Methodist Church in Anita, Iowa.


Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery, Anita, Iowa, following the lunch in the church fellowship hall.