Marie C. Steele

Obituary of Marie Steele, December 14, 2018

Marie Carolyn Ells Kaudy Steele (age 95) passed away 12 Dec 2018, at Bethany Riverside Nursing Home, in the presence of her oldest daughter Elizabeth Moline, and Granddaughter, Anna Moline Healy. Marie was born 6 October 1923 on a farm near Lake Beulah, WI. Her parents were Charles Wayne Ells and Carrie Asenath Keller Ells.

She graduated from East Troy H.S. in 1941 and attended Milwaukee State Teachers College where she met John Kaudy. He was drafted into the army in 1943. He served in Hawaii as a Radar Officer, returning home in the spring of 1946.  She and John were married in August 1946. Marie received her B.A. from Milwaukee State Teachers College in June 1945, and was certified to teach Nursery School and Kindergarten in 1947. Their three children (Elizabeth Ann, Ruth Carol, and Eugene Charles) were born while John was in Graduate School. He graduated with a Doctorate in Soil Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1951. He was employed by the University of California Experimental Station in Riverside, California doing Smog Research.  He died of cancer in 1953.

In December 1955, she married Merritt (Bob) George Steele. Bob was a Radio Operator on a B-25 in WWII, and was a graduate of Perdue University with a degree in Electrical Engineering.  He was employed by Federal Electric at Vandenberg A.F.B. as a Rocket Scientist. Marie and Bob had one daughter Kamela (aka Karen Marie).

After Retiring, Bob and Marie moved to the Fiji Islands, where they lived for 10 years. Finding medical care there inadequate, they moved to Ashville, N.C. where they lived for another 10 years. They then moved to Lacrosse to be near family. Bob died in 2006.

Marie was preceded in death by her Parents; two older brothers – Carlton Lloyd Ells and Lawrence Charles Ells; and her two older sisters – Marjorie Beth Ells Meyer, and Ruth Marolyn Ells Meyer; and both of her husbands John Kaudy and Bob Steele.

She is survived by her 4 children: Elizabeth Ann Kaudy Moline (Bob) of rural Genoa; Ruth Carol Kaudy Ziegler (Ken) of McKinny, TX; Eugene Charles Kaudy of Eugene, Oregon; and Kamela Steele Proulx (Dan) of Moro Bay, California; and 7 grand children and 14 great-grandchildren.

Marie’s family would like to express their appreciation for the concern and magnanimity displayed by the staff of the Willows and Bethany Riverside during her time spent there.

Interment will held in a private ceremony, and there will be a celebration of life at a later date.