John and Mary Steele

John Elliott Steele (1901-1953)
Lot 616 / Plot 2 Highland Cemetery New Castle, Garfield County Colorado
Born December 1, 1901 - Baldwin, Colorado
Died July 22, 1953 - Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Wife - Helen Mary (Pierce) Steele (Married Jul. 1, 1926 - Gunnison, CO)
Children - Nellie, Mickey, Jeannie, Sharon, Karen, John Jr. "Jack", Pauline, Martha Jean
Parents - Harry Clayton Steele and Anna (Walker) Steele
John's birthplace, Baldiwn, Coloroado, is located in Gunnison County, high up in the Rocky Mountains in the Ohio Valley. John was born in a mining cabin by a midwife. His father was employed as a foreman on the Gunnison Tunnel water project near Montrose. In May of 1905, a few months after the project began, John's father Harry, was buried in a cave-in and killed. John was 4 years old, his mother later married Phillip Pressler, whom John came to love and admire as if he was his natural father. .
John grew up on a ranch in the Baldwin area and attended elementary and high school in Baldwin. John met Helen while he was a mailman and she was a waitress in Gunnison. They were married in Gunnison, CO in 1926.
John and Helen first lived in a small cabin that John built on the upper ranch of his parents in the Ohio Valley, John was working as a miner at the time. He and Helen relocated to the New Castle area in 1930 where they rented a small cabin east of town. In 1932 he made a purchase agreement with Jose Davis to acquire the property along Elk Creek where he would raise his family.
During the great depression of the 1930's John was forced to leave the family in New Castle while he sought work wherever he could find it. He worked the mines in Leadville, Cripple Creek and Alma in 1934-1935. He would later work construction for Hinman Construction, During his employment with the company he worked as a powder monkey in Glenwood Canyon. This requred him to scale the rock cliffs, drill holes and set the dynamite. While working for Hinman a highway project required that he go to Pennsylvania where he was a foreman for the construction of Interstate 70 (I-70) in that area.. The family would join him there until the project was completed.
John and the family returned to New Castle when the highway project was completed and remained there for the rest of John's life. He worked as a salesman for McConnon Products and drove delivery of their products on the western slope of Colorado.
John passed in 1953 at the young age of 51. He suffered a heart attack while camping on the Flatops with his family. He was driven to Porter Hospital in Glenwood Springs by his wife Helen. It appeared he had recovered from the heart problem but upon his release from the hospital he suffered another attack and died.

 

John Steele shown here during his young cowboy days in the Gunnison area

Helen Mary Steele (1909-1998)
Born May 28, 1909 - Bayfield, CO
Died July 10, 1998 - Glenwood Springs, CO
Husband - John E. Steele - Married July 3, 1926 - Gunnison, CO
Children - Nellie, Mickey, Pauline, Jeannie, John "Jack", Sharen, Karen, Martha Jean
Parents - Charles Scott Pierce & Bessie Ethel (Yoder) Pierce
Helen was raised in Bayfield, Colorado, located in La Plata County. Her father Charles died in 1918 when Helen was only 9 years old. At the age of 16 she moved to Gunnison to take a job in order to help her mom financially.
While living in Gunnison she worked as a waitress at Johnson's Restaurant. She met her future husband John Steele in 1925 who drove the Baldwin Stage delivering mail. After a year long courtship Helen and John were married at the home of Mrs. Mary Boson in West Gunnison. John and Helen lived in a small cabin John built on the upper portion of his parent's ranch. In the winter when John worked the mines they lived in the Baldwin Miner's Cabins. Their oldest daughter, Pauline was born in one of the cabins, John's mother, Anna helped deliver the baby. Helen's three oldest children were born in Gunnison County.
In 1930 John's parents sold their ranch and moved to the New Castle. In the late fall of 1930 John, Helen and the children followed them there. These were the depression days and while living in New Castle John worked the mines when he could and on the area ranches. He eventually had to travel to work the mines in Leadville, Cripple Creek and other places for months at a time to provide for the family. Helen was left to tend the home and their children. The many letters she wrote to John described her loneliness during these times. In the winter of 1932 a daughter, Martha Jean was born on Christmas day, sadly the child would die in January of 1933.
As the Great Depression began to ease John found work with a road construction company that kept him employed locally. That company was awarded a bid on part of the I-70 highway in Pennsylvania and John went with the company to work on the project in 1939. Helen and the children joined him there until the project was completed and returned to New Castle in 1940.
Upon returning to New Castle John was able to find steady employment and he and Helen settled in and raised their family on their property located adjacent to Elk Creek and along 7th Street.
John passed away in 1953 at the age of 51 due to a heart attack. Four years later Helen married Tom Crawford, she was only married a few years and divorced Mr. Crawford and took back the Steele name. She worked in the bakery at the Rock-N-Pines Den, near Canyon Creek for several years. In the 1960's she moved to Frisco and opened Goose's Bakery (Goose was her nickname) next to her son Jack's restaurant (Hobo Jack's Pancake House).
Helen eventually sold her and John's (Steele property) place in New Castle and moved to Hannigan Meadows in Alpine, Arizona to live with her daughter Jeannie and her husband Bob Hoffmeister. She later purchased a home in Payson, Arizona. In her last years she moved to Alaska to be with her twin daughters Sharen and Karen and their families. She returned to New Castle for a visit and became ill and passed away in Glenwood Springs in 1998.

 

John Steele and his wife Helen in the Gunnison County Colorado area

Circa 1949 - John Steele with his twin daughters, Karen and Sharen in New Castle, Colorado

Circa 1940's - John Steele shown here with his delivery truck as a salesman for McConnon Products. Burning Mountain in the background

John and Helen Steele's home on 7th street, New Castle Colorado

1993 photo of the New Castle Colorado Steele property. Creek Hollow Townhomes located here today

 

---