Robert Burns Steele, 92, of Xenia, passed away Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at the Dayton VA Medical Center.  He was born during the Great Depression on June 3, 1932, on a small farm near Panama, Kentucky, on which his family lived and worked.  Bob was the third child, second son, of Dewey and Martha (Neal) Steele, who raised six children: Harold, Dorothy, Robert, Norma Fay, Anne, and Kenneth.  In 1937 the family, including his Uncle Bob Neal, accepted the opportunity to live and work a larger, more prosperous farm near Cedarville, Ohio. Daily he witnessed his parents work the land with stoicism to their toil, and this imprinted on him.  Bob cherished being raised on a farm and those experiences taught him the self-reliance principles of setting goals, taking risks, problem solving, hard work, and thrift.

Shortly after graduating from Xenia Central High School in 1950, Bob joined the United States Marine Corp. (Jan-1951 to Jan-1954).  His older brother Harold (WW-II) and his younger brother Kenny (Vietnam) were also Marines.  Bob was a combat veteran, serving 13 months in Korea. He earned the rank of Sergeant and was a squad leader with the First Marine Division in an anti-tank and fortified position assault platoon.  During his tour he was awarded a week of R&R in Japan for capturing a prisoner of war. He was honorably discharged in 1954 and honored with nine medals.  Serving in the war shaped the rest of life.  The paradigm of his future became "I endured that experience! I can endure anything!"  He was always optimistic with the expectation of a positive outcome to whatever he might face.  The war also shaped his view of the world.  He became a staunch advocate of freedom, especially for those who fought for it.  It led him to serve others, especially veterans.

In 1954 he married Agnes "Aggie" Kyne of Spring Valley, Ohio and they had two sons, Robert and John.  In 1972 he married Marguerite (McGrody) Phillips, "Peg", who had two sons, Gary and Terrance ("Terry").  In 2003 Bob and Peg were honored with the Parents of the Year Award by the National Parents Day Council of Washington D.C.

From 1965 to 1976 he pursued a degree in pre-law government at Wright State University.  He was just 6 credit hours short of receiving his degree, needing just two foreign language courses to complete the program. Prior to Wright State he studied accounting at Miami Jacobs Business College.  He was a lifelong learner and a student of "life".

Bob worked for the United States Postal service for 30 years, and he retired in 1986. Three years later he began his second career and became the Executive Director of Greene County Veterans Services.  He retired for a second time in 2003.

His experiences and education prepared him to accept many leadership roles within his community and veteran focused organizations, especially the American Legion.  In the American Legion, of which he was a member for 73 years, he was elected: Post Commander of Xenia (1961); Commander of the Greene County Council of Ohio (1962); Commander of Third District of Ohio (1963); and Department of Ohio Commander (1985). He also held leadership roles in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Korean War Veterans Association, AMVETS, and Disabled American Veterans. He was a lifetime member of these organizations. Bob's other leadership roles included: organizing and serving as chairman of the Xenia Tornado Fund (1974); Board Chairman of The American Freedom Coalition (1987); City of Xenia Volunteer Advisory Committee (1987); Greene County Veterans Service Commission (1989-2003); State President of the Ohio State Association of Veterans Service Commissioners (1993), during which he organized a state-wide education and training program for all Ohio Veteran Service Commissioners;  Committee to re-write the Xenia City Charter (1992); Buckeye Boys State Commissioner; and Governor's Task Force of the Ohio Veteran Children's Home.  In 2005 Bob was selected as one of thirty US Korean War Veterans to be a delegate to the UN Peace Force Convention in Seoul, South Korea marking the 50th anniversary of the cease fire.  He was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame (2005) and the Greene County Veterans Hall of Fame (2022).  While serving in these roles Bob made over one thousand platform speeches. In April of 2024 he was honored to travel to Washington DC as part of the Dayton Honor Flight mission.

Bob's favorite pastime was playing croquet.  The love of this game began as a child on the Cedarville farm, when at the age of 11 he sold enough flower seeds to local farm wives that he earned a "reward" from the seed company's catalogue.  He chose a croquet set.  Playing croquet became the pastime of the entire family, when at the end of the day they would play a round or two, often finishing by lantern light.  For over 50 years Bob had a permanent croquet course in his yard.  In fact, he would not buy a home unless it had enough land to hold his course.  He loved playing the game at every opportunity, and for many years his son John would join him after work and the two would play until dark.

Bob was a storyteller and his stories covered his life experiences.  Some revealed his vulnerability, especially during the war, others his stubbornness to not give-up, but more often than not, lessons learned from a well lived life that could benefit the listener.  The story lines ranged from downright scary to laughably entertaining.  In our memories we will always have his stories, but we will miss the nuances of his own telling.

Speaking of stubbornness, the entire Steele Family shares this trait. This predisposition is credited to his paternal grandmother Marena Jane (Havens) Steele, and her father, his great-grandfather, William Francis Havens.  Growing up, Bob's father, Dewey, would refer to this branch of the family as "the hair brained Havens", due to their unwillingness to back-down, even if doing so was in their best interest.  Affectionately Bob would call attention to a family member exhibiting this "genetic condition" by humorously chiding (usually to his brother Kenny, or one of his two sons) "Boy, that is the Havens in you!"  And of course, more often than not, he received this quip as much, if not more often than he gave it.

The intensity of his Haven's stubbornness is best exemplified by Bob's own response to a transformative event, a deadly automobile accident. After completing advanced infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California, and before deploying to Korea, he and his fellow Marines were granted a two-week Christmas liberty.  In late December of 1951, six Marines from the eastern U.S. departed southern California in a rental car, with the plan to drop off each one at his home along the route, the last one taking the car to the furthest destination east.  The first Marine was dropped off west of Indiana with the next, Bob, to be dropped off in Ohio.  While driving through downtown Indianapolis a large moving truck, in the lane next to them, abruptly came over the line pushing their car into opposing traffic, causing a head-on collision, which resulted in two fatalities in the opposing car. The impact of the crash fractured his hip requiring a three-month's stay in a Naval hospital to heal and rehabilitate.  With this injury he became classified as non-deployable, meaning he would not be sent to Korea.  But as we know, he did go. How? Why?  Because he repeatedly, stubbornly, volunteered to go until his commanding officer was tired of saying "no" and sent him.  Despite his sobering experiences in Korea, we never heard him second guess his decision.  He was trained to fight in war and felt it was his duty to serve.

Bob liked to walk.  Every morning at 4:00 am, sometimes earlier, and regardless of weather, he would walk his 2.5+ mile course. He adhered to this start-of-the-day discipline for over 60 years despite his hip injury, or perhaps because of it.  During his treks he would reflect on his goals, his plans, and his life.  This was his quiet time, where he could be alone in his own thoughts.  This daily ritual kept his body and mind sharp, and his reward was to live to be nearly 93 years of age.

Finally, Bob always had pets.  He loved having a dog or a cat to take care of, to talk to, and to have as a quiet companion.  He appreciated their unconditional affection and loyalty.

In April of 2022 Bob and Peg celebrated 50 years of marriage. Unfortunately, Peg passed away shortly afterwards on May 1st. He was also preceded in death by his parents, Dewey and Martha Steele, first wife Aggie, step-son Terry Phillips, two sisters, Norma Faye (Harold) Avra and Dorothy (Max) Sims, and his brothers, Harold (Ann Lou) and Kenny (Barb) Steele.  He is survived by his sons, Robert (Sandy), John (Sandra), his step-son Gary (Jean) Phillips, step-daughter-in-law, Donna Phillips, his sister Anne (Don) Nill; and his sister-in-law, Joyce (Herb) Tomashot, along with many nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Etched on his tombstone Bob leaves us with two of his most ardent beliefs: "TOWARD A MORAL AMERICA", which is a reference to the founding principles of our Nation and its constant pursuit of justice and equality for everyone; and, invoking a maxim of President Ronald Reagan, "WITHOUT LIMITED GOVERNMENT MAN IS NOT FREE." He was and will continue to be an inspiration to us. He is in our hearts and minds forever, and thereby never far from us. We are honored to have known and loved him.

This link is to Bob's 90th Birthday Video, from June 3, 2022.  It provides a pictorial view of Bob's Life at https://photos.app.goo.gl/nVBqyfDFHg9jPhJk8

Services will be held at 10 am, Saturday, May 24, at Neeld Funeral Home, 1276 N. Detroit St., Xenia. Visitation will be held from 5-8 pm Friday, May 23, at the funeral home.  Burial will be in Woodland Cemetery, Xenia.   In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the Semper Fi & America's Fund at https://thefund.org/donate/ Condolences may be made to the family at www.NeeldFuneralHome.com