Loving wife, mother and grandmother

Mamie Carey Steele, a longtime Claremont resident, died peacefully on Friday, May 22, 2015. She was 85.

She was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 13, 1929. Carey, as she was called, moved with her family to California where she attended Hollywood High School and then UCLA. She returned to Louisiana for a short period and continued schooling at Louisiana State University. She loved college sports, especially her alma maters’ teams, and followed the Bruins and Tigers year in and year out.

She met her husband Jack while working a summer job in Los Angeles. They moved around for four years while he was in the Air Force and then returned to California when Jack became a salesman with Rockwell Tool. They moved to Claremont in 1961 and opened up their own business, J&S Industrial Tool in Pomona. 

Mrs. Steele was known to her friends and acquaintances as a compassionate, generous and helpful person. She was a member of the Pomona Women’s Optimist Club for 30 years, participating in fundraising activities and events for both the women’s and men’s organizations. She was also a very involved parent and was active in the PTA at Sumner, El Roble and Claremont High, where her children Judy and Bob attended. She was a troop mother with Boy Scout troop 402 until the point where Bob attained the rank of Eagle Scout. She was similarly involved with Bluebirds and Girl Scouts with Judy.

Living in Claremont, their house had a reputation as the place where all the kids played, and Mrs. Steele could be counted on to have enough popsicles to go around, no matter how large the crowd. Carey and Jack lived in Claremont from 1961 until 2006, when they moved to Apple Valley to be nearer to their son.

Mrs. Steele is preceded in death by her husband, Jack, and all five of her brothers and sisters. She is survived by her daughter, Judy Steele Morgan, and by her son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Cheri Steele. She also leaves grandchildren Brian Steele, Megan Wright (Mike), Summer Muir (Robert) and Sean Morgan as well as great-grandchildren Connor Muir and Kaitlyn Carey Steele.

She will be buried in Claremont’s Oak Park Cemetery, next to her husband Jack. Graveside services will be held today, Friday, May 29 at 11 a.m.