Mary Steele

A gathering in remembrance of Mary will be held Monday afternoon, February 10, 2025, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM in Wendland Hall at the Azalee Marshall Cultural Activities Center, 3011 N. 3rd St., Temple, TX 76501. It was her request that those attending not wear black, as she desired a joyous gathering of people she knew and loved.

Mary was born April 8, 1936, to William H. and Mary Pauline (Johnson) Hoover in Washington, D.C. She married A. Dean Steele, MD, June 14, 1958, in Wilmington, Delaware, where they met while attending the University of Delaware.

Arriving in Temple in 1969, Mary quickly became an integral part of the community, demonstrating her enthusiastic support for the arts as the founding president of The Contemporaries of the Cultural Activities Center. She was a lifelong patron of the Temple Civic Theater and the Central Texas Orchestral Society. Following her own experience with breast cancer, Mary sought to bring resources to the community as a charter member of the Central Texas Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Her community and personal interests extended to membership in the Texas Medical Association Alliance, the Nan Brown Garden Club, and the Wildflower Quilt Guild.

Mary’s family will remember her love, strength, generosity, elegance, and grace. Her grandchildren know she loved them a bushel and peck. Mary treasured and nurtured her friendships. She made the world a more beautiful place, both by her presence, and through the things she created with her hands, be it delicious meals shared with family and friends, or quilts to commemorate important life events.

Preceded in death by her husband Dean, Mary is survived by her children, Penny (Jim) Larkin of Austin, TX and Chris (Gerry) Steele of Milwaukee, WI, 3 grandchildren, Amelia Larkin of Austin, TX, Maddy Steele of Austin, TX, and Max Steele of Plano, TX, and a sister, Sara "Sally" Annette Tullis.

In lieu of flowers, should you wish to honor Mary's memory, donations in support of the Performing and Visual Arts may be made to: The Contemporaries of the CAC, PO Box 1791, Temple, TX 76503; or, in support of Baylor Scott and White Temple Medical Center at: Baylor Scott & White Central TX Foundation, 2401 S 31st St, MS20-S103, Temple, TX 76508.