Friedrich George Steil

Born September 13th 1939, Fred grew up in Irvington, New Jersey with his parents, Friedrich Steil and Katharina Steil. After graduating from Irvington High School in 1957, Fred began his career as a toolmaker’s apprentice, eventually specializing in plastic injection molding, and ultimately leading the R&D and Technical Support teams at D-M-E in Michigan upon his retirement in 2013. Fred completed his BS from NJIT where he earned Summa Cum Laude and was admitted to the Tau Alpha Pi National Honor Society. In his career Fred was issued 10 patents, co-authored a book (The Tool and Manufacturing Engineer Handbook), worked with Buzz Aldrin, met Neil Armstrong after winning his namesake award, was involved in some of the first efforts of creating safety standards for injection molding machines, and received the NJIT distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. He was an active member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Plastic Pioneers of America, and the Society of Plastic Engineers(SPE) where he made many contributions and was awarded the Mold Maker of the Year award in 2004.

Fred always had a ready smile and a clever story. He was an extremely talented woodworker and leaves many beautiful handcrafted pieces behind. One of his biggest woodworking challenges was the full restoration of a 1949 Shepherd runabout; a mahogany boat that had been found submerged in lake Erie. He enjoyed the outdoors; whether it was skiing when he was younger, sailing or motor boating, going to the gun club, or bicycling - up until the very end of his life. He also enjoyed practicing his German language skills with whomever would let him. Most of all Fred enjoyed spending time with his family, friends, and neighbors.

Fred is survived by his daughter Laura Steil (N Fort Myers, FL), his son John Steil, daughter-in-law Marybeth, granddaughter Piper (Columbia, MD), and friend and ex-wife Winifred Steil (N Fort Myers). He was predeceased by his sister Esther, second wife Marilyn, and his son Danny.

A memorial service will be held at 12pm on Sunday, January 31st at Pine Island Memorial Church, 5320 Doug Taylor Circle, St. James City, FL 33956