Gary Steele, 73, of Perry died Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.
Funeral services will be held Friday, Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. at the Carris Family Funeral Home in Perry. Visitation will be Thursday, Oct. 22 from 2-8 p.m., with family present from 5-8 p.m. at Carris Family Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Yale Cemetery at Yale. Memorials may be given to Heartland Church of Christ Building Fund or the Perry Area Christian Event Center and may be left at the Funeral Home. Online condolences may be sent to www.carrisfuneralhome.com.
Gary Lane Steele was born Nov. 8, 1941, near Eddyville, Iowa, to Hubert Harold and Ruth LaVerne (Emanuel) Steele.
He graduated from Eddyville High School with the class of 1960.
He was united in marriage to Nancy Whitver Bradley July 7, 1979, in Des Moines.
Gary served the Lord at Cookson Hills Christian Ministry in Kansas, Okla., for 31 years. He moved to Perry and began driving school bus for the Perry Community School District.
Gary was an active member of the Heartland Church of Christ in Perry. He was a man of many skills: carpentry work, mechanical work, restoring cars, canoeing, fishing, hunting, gardening and teaching by life example.
He loved singing, mentoring grandchildren and serving the Lord in everything he did.
Gary was preceded in death by his parents; an infant daughter; and a sister, Karen Sue Azlin.
Survivors include his wife, Nancy Steele of Perry; children, Cindy (Donald) Gordon of Ottumwa, Sherri (Dennis) Small of Ottumwa, Wanda Steele of Kirkville, Iowa, Tamra Steele of Eddyville, Troy Bradley of Perry and Derek (Tina) Bradley of Norman, Okla.; grandchildren, David, Amber, Elizabeth, Sheena, Staci, Shannon, Heather, Carter, Gabriel, Desiree, Austin and Megan; great-grandchildren, Audrey, Max, Tristan, Tucker, Traven, Theodore, Kara, Oliver, Ayddan, Jacob and Justin; sisters, Myrna (Paul) Hynick of Albia, Iowa, Nora (Frank) Dahly of Aquilla, Texas, Evelyn (Ed) Fierro of Chino Valley, Ariz., Ellen (Chuck) McCrea of Eddyville and Carol Ann (Larry) McNeese of Eddyville; and his step-mother, Edith Steele of Eddyville.
Dear Nancy,
So sorry to hear about Gary’s passing. I so glad I got to talk to him about 3 weeks ago. He sounded good.
If you need to talk, I am available to listen. I know Gary’s death was sudden, while Buddy’s was a long time coming.
But we lost our friend, loved one, husband, grandpa, and will never be able to forget their love for us and family.
I send my love and comfort to you and family.
Sue