Steele, Robert J. "Bob" 1916-2002

STEELE, LAUX, DUNAWAY

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 2/28/2009 at 14:54:27

LE MARS, Iowa -- Robert J. "Bob" Steele, 85, of Cherokee Village, Ark., died Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002, at Eastern Ozarks Regional Health System in Cherokee Village.

Memorial services for the retired president and CEO of Sioux Honey will be held at a later date. Tri-County's Cherokee Chapel of Highland, Ark., is in charge of the arrangements.

Mrs. Steele was born Dec. 26, 1916, on the family farm in Le Mars, Iowa, the son of Lee R. and Hattie (Laux) Steele. He attended his first seven years of school at the country school in Le Mars, then Le Mars Junior High and graduated from Le Mars Central High School in 1934. He had no degree but he received credits in accounting and business management from Western Union College in Le Mars, the Ohio State University and Louisiana State University.

He was in the U.S. Army Air Corps from Nov. 1942 until Dec. 1945. He spent 19 months in the Pacific Campaign, including D-Day landing in Leyte in the Philippine Liberation Campaign. In addition to U.S. Campaign Medals, received from the Republic of the Philippines, a Philippine Liberation Medal with one Bronze Star and one Bronze Arrowhead, a Philippine Independence Medal and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Badge. He was a first sergeant at the time of his discharge

He married Kathryn (Kay) Dunaway on June 13, 1946, in Lima, Ohio. They moved to Sioux City where he was employed by Sioux Honey Association. He retired on Jan. 1, 1982, after 42 years with the firm. At the time of his retirement he was the president and CEO of the company. In August of 1982 they moved to their retirement home in Cherokee Village.

He was very active in local, state and national organizations. He was a honey industry advisor to every Secretary of Agriculture from the Eisenhower Administration to the Reagan Administration. On the national level he served as a director of the American Honey Institute, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, director and vice-president of the National Honey Packers and Dealers Association, and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Omaha Farm Credit District for his contributions to American agriculture. Locally he served as a director of the First National Bank, the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce, the Sioux City Better Business Bureau and was a member of the Tax Research Conference. He was a member and director of the Downtown Kiwanis Club and member of the American Legion Post. He was also an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor and a charter member of the Hawkeye Rifle and Pistol Club. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club and the American Legion Post in Cherokee Village.

He was a member of the Le Mars Presbyterian Church and an associate member of the Spring River Presbyterian Church in Hardy, Ark.

There are no immediate survivors.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife.

~Source: The Sioux City Journal, Jan. 11, 2002
~Part of the Darrell E. Obituary Collection