Doris Steele

Doris L. Steele, age 97, of Potter, NE passed away in Kimball, NE on Thursday, April 6, 2023. A Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, April 13, 2023 at Prairie West Church in Potter, NE with Pastor Warren Cico officiating. Burial will follow at the Potter Cemetery in Potter, NE. Services will be livestreamed on the Gehrig-Stitt Chapel Facebook page and recorded for later viewing on our website.

Friends may stop at the Gehrig-Stitt Chapel on Wednesday from 1-6:00 P.M. to leave condolences for the family.

Family will be present from 4-6:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Potter Historical Foundation PO Box 323 Potter, NE 69156 for the Legion Hall Restoration Fund or Prairie West Church.

You may view Doris's Book of Memories, leave condolences, photos and stories at http://www.gehrigstittchapel.com. Gehrig-Stitt Chapel & Cremation Service, LLC is in charge of Doris's care and funeral arrangements.

Doris Lucille Steele, the daughter of John Harvey and Anna Mathilda (Hiersche) Pfeifer, was born on December 6, 1925 in rural Scottsbluff County. She attended school at Victory Hill and Sunflower, graduating from Scottsbluff High School in 1943. After graduation she was employed as a sales clerk at Burrs Department Store and later as an accountant at the Prisoner of War Camp in Scottsbluff. After the camp closed, she was employed as a bookkeeper at the Scottsbluff National Bank.

Doris and Harold D. Steele were baptized on December 7, 1947 at the First Christian Church in Scottsbluff where on January 11, 1948 they were married. Harold and Doris made their home in Potter, Nebraska, where Doris became a farm wife and where she and Harold raised their five children.

Doris joined the Methodist Church in Potter on May 8, 1948 where she became active as a teacher of the Kindergarten Department for ten years. She served as a Certified Lay Speaker of the United Methodist Church for thirty years.

Doris is a Past President of the Northwest District United Methodist Women; the District Four American Legion Auxiliary and the Department of Nebraska Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865. She served many years as the Parliamentarian for the Nebraska Department and National Department of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865.

Doris received a Voluntary Service Certificate by the Veterans Administration in appreciation for 1,344 hours and six years of volunteer service to veterans at the Cheyenne, Wyoming Veteran's Hospital.

She was honored by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War with their most prestigious award, the Kady Brownell Award, and as an Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. Doris received the Jay Stecker Community Service Award by the Potter Community Improvement Committee at Potter Days on September 5, 2020.

Doris may be remembered for her ability to make people laugh as an emcee and the many monologues she gave as well as her Clown Ministry.

Doris is survived by her children Jerry Steele (Jeanne) of Potter; Susan Sisson of Longmont, Colorado; Vicki Martin of Lakewood, Colorado; Jennifer A. Cook (Ric) of Topeka, Kansas and Thomas Steele (Corinna) of Madison, Alabama; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; 3 step-grandchildren; 6 step-great-grandchildren; 5 step-great-great grandchildren; eight nieces and two nephews.

Doris, the youngest of seven children, was preceded in death by her husband, parents, five brothers, Leonard, Dean, Clyde, Ray and Wayne, one sister Irma LaBat and their spouses; grandsons Brian Steele and Logan Sisson, step-grandson Jason Cook, sons-in-law Richard Martin and Larry Sisson, and nephew Ronald Dean Pfeifer.