Lessie Steele

FITCHBURG / STOUGHTON / MADISON – Lessie Mae Steele, age 99, passed away on Sunday, May 28, 2017, at Agrace HospiceCare. She was born on April 12, 1918, in Stab, Ky., the daughter of Oma and Mary Burdine. She married Allen Steele on Jan. 17, 1940, in Medford, Wis. She was spiritual; loving and trusting in the Lord. She always said the key to a happy life was to love the Lord with all your heart.  Lessie was born in the back hills of Kentucky where she lived with her parents and siblings, that grew to 11 children. She moved to Frankfort, Ky., to work as nanny where she met her future husband, a traveling salesman from Wisconsin.  While selling vanilla, spices and household items, Allen was smitten by the young woman who answered the door of her employer.  Lessie’s southern charm and smile won him over.  After returning to Wisconsin he wrote Lessie a letter every day. Between his travels back and forth, he eventually persuaded her to move to Wisconsin in December of 1939.  They were married soon after, in January, 1940. They celebrated 50 years of marriage before Allen went to be with the Lord in 1990.   While raising their three children in Madison, Lessie worked part-time as a caregiver and housekeeper. Over the years, Lessie also worked at the Dean Clinic, University of Wisconsin, Red Dot Potato Chip Company, Rayovac and at Manchesters, sewing custom draperies. Her favorite pastime was quilting and sewing, a necessity back in Kentucky, where at the young age of six her mother taught her the skills that she perfected over the next 93 years.  Quilting became her artwork.  She was still cross-stitching and quilting at age 99. Every stitch Lessie crafted in her quilts was done by hand.  Stoughton residents have enjoyed some of her quilt work that has traveled the City Hall, Stoughton Library, and Depot, now displayed at the Senior Center, and eventually Stoughton Museum.  Lessie donated her time and talents creating quilts for fundraisers and memorials. Her legacy has been shared with her family through the hundreds of personalized quilts she sewed with her loving hands. Lessie is survived by daughters, Lois (Jerry) Green and Mary Schaffner; son, Mike (Kathi) Steele; seven grandchildren, Kerri (Brad) Frisch, Scott (Donna) Decker, Kathy (Bill) Foust, Mike (Melissa) Schaffner, Sara (Jason) Mooney, Kate (Mitch) Louther, and Beth (Erek) Kucher; 19 great-grandchildren, Eric (Alexis) Martinson, Alicia (Chris) Jurgenson, Kristi (Dan) Emkow, Matt (Stefanie) Decker, Jessica (Eric) Leonard, Justin Jardine, Lauren (Ben) Heidke, Barett Decker, Lisa Frisch, Kailey Frisch, Riley, Calvin, Brady, Isabella, Liam, Ella, Jackson, Finn, and Macey; 11 great-great-grandchildren, Andrew, TeRina, Asia, Braylon, Brianna, Zoey, Lola, Melanie, LeeAnna, Elijah, and Faith; and siblings, Ketry Burdine and Wilma (Harvey) Abner. She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; siblings, Leon, Arvil, Cartell, Carlos, Alta, Gertie, Dorothy, and Janis. Funeral services will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Dr., Madison, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 1, 2017, with Pastor Mark Weiss presiding. Burial will be held at Highland Memory Gardens. Visitation will be held at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Thursday.