Jim Steele

James Robbins Steele, the youngest of five children of James Miller "Jack" and Gladys Julia (Robbins) Steele, was born at Malvern, Iowa on August 21, 1937. James, affectionately known as Jimmie, graduated from Malvern High School in 1954. In 1958, he graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and then earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Black Hills Teachers College in 1960. Jimmie continued his education by earning a Masters of Education Degree in Special Education from Northeast Missouri State Teachers College in Kirksville, Missouri in 1964. Jimmie began his teaching career at Le Grand, Iowa where he taught for six years followed by three years at Maquoketa, Iowa. In 1967, he began a 22 year career with the Dubuque Community School District, retiring in 1989. Jimmie is known for quietly helping his special education students, exceeding any expectations placed upon him as a teacher. Jimmie's enjoyments included operating his amateur radio station, WB0GNV, time spent at the beloved family cabin near Rochford, South Dakota, card games of any description, and was known as a keen blackjack player. He was an avid Iowa Hawkeye sports fan and enjoyed th...[more]

View Full Online Obituary and Tributes

awn game of croquet. In recent years, Jimmie enjoyed spending winters in Mesa, Arizona. Following the death of his father, Jimmie became an attentive caregiver for his mother, enabling her to remain in the family home in Malvern. The lifelong effects of cerebral palsy forced Jimmie to enter the Dubuque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where he died on December 17, 2009, at the age of 72 years, 3 months, and 26 days. In addition to his parents, Jimmie was preceded in death by two infant brothers; his sisters, Julia Jean McCausland and her husband W. D. "Mac" and Marjorie Claire Zanders and her husband William C. "Bill". Jimmie is survived by a niece, Susan McCausland of Rockford, IL; nephews, W. D. "Mac" McCausland, III of Waterloo, IA, William L. "Larry" Zanders and wife Janet, and Jeffery M. Zanders and wife Lorraine, all of Malvern; great nieces and nephews, and great great nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Special Olympics, Rochford Chapel in Rochford, South Dakota, or the James R. Steele Memorial Fund.