Steege, Rev. Richard Henry 1906-1988

STEEGE, MOHLING, MEISGEIER, WEDEMEIER, KOELLING, BARTELS

Posted By: Connie Ellis (email)
Date: 1/13/2011 at 19:39:41

SOURCE: Unknown: either Waukon, Monona, or Postville, Iowa newspaper, April 28, 1988
Contributor: Connie Ellis (Not related)

Rev.Richard Henry Steege was born October 5, 1906 in Harlen Township, Fayette County to Fred and Wilhelmina (Mohling) Steege. He was baptized and confirmed at Hope Lutheran Church in Westgate, Iowa. He was educated in rural schools in Fayette County and graduated from Wartburg Normal School and Academy in Waverly, Iowa in 1928. He graduated from Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa in 1931. On July 5, 1931 Rev. Steege was ordained into the Lutheran ministry at Hope Lutheran Church. On July 16, 1931 he married Frieda C. Meisgeier in Arlington, Iowa. He served as a pastor in Rockdale, Texas from 1931 to 1935 and rural Plainfield, Iowa from 1935 to 1945. He became pastor of St.John's Lutheran Church in Farmersburg, Iowa in 1945 and served that parish until his retirement in 1971. They remained in Farmersburg until moving to the Gernand Center in Strawberry Point, Iowa in April 1986. He served on the board of the Lutheran Home in Strawberry Point and was always supportive of church, school, and community activities.

Rev. Steege died Monday April 18, 1988 at Central Community Church in Elkader, Iowa. Funeral services were held Friday, April 22 at 11 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Farmersburg. The Rev. Albert Hock officiated. Burial was in the Farmersburg-Wagner Cemetery in Farmersburg. Schultz Funeral Home in Monona, Iowa was in charge of arrangements. Casket bearers were Gary Burrack, Milton Hamman, Lee Klinkenberg, John Kluth, Vernice Moon, Elmer Shady, Jay Mathews, and Dale Henning.

Preceding him in death were his parents, an infant daughter and infant son; four brothers, Fred, Theodore, Emil, and Walter Steege; and two sisters, Agnes Koelling and Amanda Bartels.

Surviving are his wife, two sons, Richard Steege of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Kenneth Steege of Manitowoc, Wisconsin; 3 grandchildren, Paul, Hans, and Troy Steege; a sister, Charlotte Wedemeier of Hawkeye, Iowa and a brother, the Rev. Herbert Steege of Orange, California.