Obituary of Marion Wolfe Steele

Marion was born June 26, 1935, the youngest daughter of Clinton D. Wolfe and Margaret Herbst Wolfe. She was the youngest sister of Leanna Wolfe Steele, Grace Wolfe Wollrath and Edwin S. Wolfe II, who have predeceased her.

Marion was the granddaughter of Edwin S. Wolfe, who constructed the Milford High School, the Milford Borough Building, Forest Hall, and many other beautiful buildings in Milford. She was also the granddaughter of Fred J. Herbst, a popular druggist in Milford.

Marion and her husband, Bruce, were united in marriage on May 8, 1966. They had two beloved sons, Barry Bruce and Brian Edwin Steele.  Marion was preceded in death by her loving husband, Bruce Forrest Steele, on October 7, 2022.

Marion lived most of her life in Milford and spent her childhood summers swimming- a lifelong pleasure. She had a special fondness for children, flowers, classical and sacred music, and classical literature, almost memorizing Jane Austen’s three greatest novels.

She attended the Milford Methodist Church for 70 years, uplifted by the beautiful, spirit-filled Christian hymns. She loved the outdoors and all the wonderful manifestations of the Almighty in the natural world. She was thankful for every day of her life and felt the providential care throughout by the Almighty. One instance was the entrance in her life of Aunt Kitt Johnston, who wonderfully cared for Marion and her brother and sisters after the early demise of their mother, Margaret, in July 1936.

She was a professional Nurse, working in her younger years at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, and Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. She co-established the Physical Therapy Department at St. Francis Hospital, Port Jervis, New York, in 1962. She spent many years as a School Nurse at Delaware Valley School District until she retired in 1997.

Remarkably, she helped save the life of her toddler nephew and her brother-in-law, administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in the middle of the Delaware River in a row boat in 1963.

In later years, she enjoyed visits from her children and grandchildren. She is survived by her sons, Barry Steele of Milford, Pennsylvania, and Brian Steele (Lois Vitti) of Oakmont, Pennsylvania. She is also survived by her former daughter- in- law, Lisa Steele, mother of her beloved grandchildren Forrest Edward Steele, Parker Fownes Steele, and Brooklyn Joyce Steele. She is also survived by nieces and nephews, Guy Wolfe (Tina), Clinton Wolfe (Terrilyn), Regina Lemm (Daryl), D.H. Steele (Corey), Leanna Knesnick (Randy), Margaret Dodge (late James), Kurt Vollrath (Beverly) and Shawn Vollrath, as well as many grand- nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be held at noon on January 25, 2025, at the Milford United Methodist Church.

Arrangements were entrusted to the Stroyan Funeral Home, 405 West Harford Street, Milford, Pennsylvania 18337 (www.stroyanfuneralhome.com).