James "Jim" Alan Steel

James Alan Steel passed away on November 16, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. Jim was born in Newark, New Jersey. He lived and worked on a farm until the age of 6, when his parents moved to Winfield, Illinois. He attended West Chicago High School and Northern Illinois University.

Jim worked for United Airlines in Elk Grove Village from 1966 until his retirement in 2000. Most of his career with United Airlines was spent in Computer Operations. After retiring from United, he and his wife Jeanine moved to Orlando where they operated a vacation rental business near Disney until 2007, when the business was sold. After that, Jim worked part time at ESPN for 10 years, retiring in 2020, just when the Covid Pandemic started.

After retiring from ESPN, Jim devoted a great deal of his time to his favorite pastime, golfing. He headed up the Hunters Creek Golf League for approximately 20 years. He had a full time job keeping track of all the averages of the golfers and setting up the golf schedules, but he enjoyed every minute of it! Golf became especially important to Jim as he battled his medical issues. He was also the president of the Braddock Oaks Neighborhood Committee for many years.

Jim was always active in sports – Baseball, Football, Basketball, Tennis, Track, and of course, Golf. His favorite moments in Golf were playing at Pebble Beach, Spyglass, and most recently TPC Sawgrass. Additionally, he was also an avid bowler for many years and played on 2 bowling leagues.

Jim and Jeanine really enjoyed to travel, and were able to visit Hawaii, Europe and China, as well as going skiing and on cruises.

Jim is survived by his wife Jeanine, as well as by his 5 children: Tom (Kristen), Jean, Ken, Jason and Sean (Aaron). He is also survived by his sister Joan and by his 13 wonderful grandchildren, who range in age from 8 months to 21 years of age. He was truly blessed.

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