David Edward Steele was born April 1, 1950 in Granite City, Illinois to Maurice Steele, a banker at Land Bank in Saint Louis, and Helen Morgan Steele an elementary school teacher. He grew up with a large extended family. His Grandmother Morgan lived with them. Cousins lived across the street and they visited nearby cousins regularly. He remained in contact with much of the family for the rest of his life.
David attended the University of Chicago, graduating in 1972 with a BA in Civilization Studies from the college. He came to Los Angeles the following year to attended the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He graduated in 1976 with a Masters in Architecture.
He married Elizabeth Irene Bartz and was Dad to daughters Arianwen and Seren. Following a stay in Chicago, he began working for Hughes Aircraft doing facilities management. He was involved in seismically isolating one of Hughes' buildings. He had helped initiate the work before the Northridge Earthquake and was on site the morning after the quake to check for damage. David often described his job as helping build spacecraft factories. He served as Hughes representative to the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce and family has fond memories of attending the Richmond Street Fair in El Segundo. He later worked for General Motors and Boeing, although that was through a change of management. As David put it, he worked for three companies without ever changing his office.
David was active in his church for most of his adult life. He was ordained an elder at Westwood Presbyterian Church while a graduate student. He later transfered his membership to the Welsh Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles where he also served on the session. In recent years he helped start and was active in the First Presbyterian Church in the virtual world Second Life where he led the service once a month.
Another passion was genealogy tracing his Welsh ancestry back many generations and studying Welsh so he could speak to his grandmother in her native tongue.
David was active in the Second Life community of Avilion and several other communities. His characters were loved and his design work appreciated.
David was a generous and compassionate man. He was a friend to everyone, whether he knew them for years or had just met them. He encouraged many. He cared for both his wife and daughter through several severe illnesses. He was a beloved husband and father and is deeply missed.
David's memorial service is September 26 at 3:00 p.m.
Knox Presbyterian Church
5840 La Tijera Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
In Second Life, he supported the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Second Life.
In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations to RFL of SL Donations can be made at http://relayforlifeofsecondlife.org/ listing his name in the second section, or to the American Cancer Society.
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