Dr. Eileen B. (Brinker) Steele, Educator: 1929-2019

Dr. Eileen B. (Brinker) Steele, Educator: 1929-2019

The following is excerpted from Dr. Eileen Steele's obituary appearing on the Sowers Funeral Home of Frostburg, Maryland website:

“Dr. Eileen B. Steele, 89, of Frostburg died on Sunday, April 21, 2019 at the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center. Born June 2, 1929 in Cumberland she was the daughter of the late John Brinker and Mary (Foley) Brinker. She is preceded in death by her husband Dr. James G. Steele, sisters, Dr. Rita Brinker, Sister Patricia Brinker, and Dorothy Brinker, brothers, John Brinker and Raymond Brinker.

Dr. Steele, an Allegany County native, taught in Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington DC. She attended schools in Allegany County and completed degrees at Frostburg State College, St. Louis University, and George Washington University. She had taught all grades including college. She worked to bring early childhood education to Allegany County, and operated a preschool in Frostburg. She was instrumental in retaining Frostburg State College and in its growth from 1961 to 1981. She was also a member of the Divine Mercy Parish at St. Michael’s Church.

She is survived by two sons, John Steele of Frostburg; and Lieutenant Colonel William Steele of Virginia; two grandchildren, two great -grandchildren, and sisters, Adell Whipple of Beaver, PA; and Katherine Aronholtz and husband Art, of Albuquerque, NM.”

--

Notes: On a personal note, it was Dr. Eileen Steele who gave me (Al Feldstein) my first “professional” employment as a teacher in the Early Childhood Education Program of the Allegany County Community Action Agency.