Harry W. Steffen

Harry W. Steffen, 93, of Scottsbluff, passed away Saturday, March 12, 2011, at Western Nebraska Veteran’s Home in Scottsbluff, where he was at home for nearly 14 years. His memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at Western Nebraska Veteran’s Home Chapel with Father Vince Parsons officiating. Inurnment will follow in Sunset Memorial Park at Scottsbluff with military honors provided by the United States Navy. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to Western Nebraska Veteran’s Home or Prairie Haven Hospice in Scottsbluff. Harry was born June 9, 1917, at Sioux City, Iowa to William and Marie Brouillette. His mother passed away shortly after his birth and his father was serving in World War I, which lead to his adoption by an aunt and uncle, Tillie and Otto Steffen of Sioux City, Iowa. Harry lived in Sioux City until he was a teenager then moved to Jefferson, South Dakota, where he graduated from high school. He attended Iowa State for a brief time, studying mechanical engineering. Returning to the Sioux City area he soon met Marjorie Paslay and they married on August 30, 1940. He worked for Chesterton Company in the advertising department prior to enlisting in the United States Navy on January 31, 1942. For the duration of World War II, Harry served aboard the U.S.S. Kasaan Bay aircraft carrier as a Petty Officer with the flight deck crew. Honorably discharged from the United States Navy on October 29, 1945, he returned to his family in Iowa and worked as a driver for Coca Cola. In 1949, he moved his family to Scottsbluff to work with his birth father as a tin smith. Always interested in house painting as a profession, he soon started his own business. With little more than a motor driven bicycle and a small trailer to haul ladders and supplies, he began a career that spanned nearly 50 years until his retirement in 1996. Harry is survived by five children; son, Jon (Luci) Steffen of Bayard; daughters, Sandra Johnson of Lincoln, Pam (Joe) Hagar of Loveland, Colorado, Lee Steffen of Westminster, Colorado and Kathleen (Tom) Stimmler of Berthoud, Colorado; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his birth parents, Bill and Marie and his adopted parents, Tillie and Otto.