Ed Steele (1933 ~ 2015)
Edward Everett Steele, longtime Moscow resident, passed away May 14, 2015 at his home surrounded by his loving family. Ed was born November 8, 1933 in Sharon, Kansas to Everett and Ruby Braden Steele. He grew up in the small farming community of Emporia, Kansas and later moved to Glen Elder, Kansas. Ed loved to play basketball and football in school and shared his musical talents by singing in the choir. He was a junior in high school in 1948 when he met a pretty Kansas girl in the sophomore class at Glen Elder. They quickly became friends and kept in touch as Ed went on to graduate from Alma, Kansas High School in 1951 and then to college at Kansas State. Edward married his high school sweetheart Joyce Hadley in Glen Elder, Kansas on August 23, 1953. They moved to Manhattan, Kansas while he was finishing his Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Sciences at Kansas State. Ed graduated from there in 1961. Subsequent moves to Fayetteville, Arkansas and Hillsboro, Kansas brought new challenges and different jobs. As his career was progressing, so too was the size of his family. Joyce kept busy as a wife and mother and Ed was working for a dairy farm and egg production plant. They moved to Moscow, Idaho in 1965 and settled in to raise their five children in the quiet college community. Ed was working as Director of the Poultry Center at the University of Idaho and finishing up his Master's Degree from Kansas State, which he obtained in 1967. He had a long career that spanned over thirty years in poultry research at the U of I. Ed and Joyce attended the Moscow Church of the Nazarene, kept busy following their kids in all of their sports and school activities and he maintained a huge garden and liked to share his bounty of vegetables with his family, neighbors and friends. Ed enjoyed furniture re-finishing projects and wood-working but his main love was fishing and hunting. He was especially talented at tying flies for fly fishing. Casting his fly rod into the many abundant streams of Idaho brought him great pleasure. Ed and Joyce made annual treks to Kansas to visit family and friends and until recently, they hardly ever missed a year. He was proud of the fact that he liked to save money. For Ed, being frugal and thrifty equaled happiness. He loved watching his children grow and succeed and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. He loved sports and going to their events, even if he left early to avoid the crowds on the way out. Ed was a quiet, unassuming, kind of shy man but very brilliant, wise and proud too. He retired from the University of Idaho in 1996. Edward will be missed by his wife of 61 years, Joyce, at their Moscow home; his 5 children, Randy (Molly) Steele of Lewiston, Marcia (Dale) Sorbel, Moscow, Steve (Margaret) Steele, Clarkia, ID., Doug (Elizabeth) Steele of Lewiston and Patty (Dick) Sanchez also of Moscow; his 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren and by four brother-in-laws, Pearl Hadley and family and Jim Hadley and family of Kansas, Don Stover of Georgia and Gene Tromble of Oklahoma. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Evelyn Tromble and Coralyn Stover, as well as two infant siblings. The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or to the Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho. Memorial Services will be held Tuesday, May 19th, at 11:00 a.m. at Short's Funeral Chapel, 1225 E. Sixth St., Moscow, Idaho. Burial will be held privately in the Moscow Cemetery that same day. On-line guest book is at www.bruningfuneralhome.com
Bruning Funeral Home, Colfax, is caring for the family.