Pamela Steele

Pamela "Pam" Wasson Steele

A passionate supporter and presenter of the arts, a loving wife and devoted mother and the friend of many, died peacefully on Wednesday, October 10, 2012. She recently turned 69.

Her death occurred after several years suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Pam was an extraordinary member of the Indianapolis community and an enthusiastic patron and volunteer. She was devoted to the Ensemble Music Society, serving as President from 1991 until she retired in 2005. Through Pam's leadership, EMS brought world-class chamber music to central Indiana. She was successful in developing the Chamber Music in Schools program, providing master classes and demonstrations for area youths with visiting artists.

Pam was a member of the Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, serving as President from 1981-1983. She recruited many volunteer during her years associated with the museum. In the mid-1990s Pam founded Steele Fine Arts, a consulting business that provided artwork for corporate offices and suites throughout central Indiana.

As a young woman, Pam was an active Junior League member. She was instrumental in the development of Senior Companions (1977-1980), providing volunteers as in-home companions for Indianapolis seniors. Pam was also a member of the Women's Club and other civic organizations in Indianapolis. In 2002, Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon appointed Pam a "Chieftain" with the title and rank of the "Sagamore of the Wabash" for her many years of volunteer service to the arts in central Indiana.

Pam was born in Evansville, Indiana, on August 20, 1943, the middle child of Louis and Elsie Wasson. She attended Central High School in Evansville where she graduated in 1961. After a year at the University of Colorado, Pam transferred to Indiana University where she met Syd Steele, an IU law student.

Syd and Pam married September 20, 1964 in Becks Chapel on the Bloomington campus. In December they left the US, spending three wonderful and exciting years living in Germany, where Syd was assigned to US Army military duties. They traveled and camped throughout Europe during his tour, returning to Indiana in 1967 with two small children and a cuckoo clock.

Pam and her young family were on their way to Chicago up I-65 where a job was waiting for her husband, when they decided Indiana was to be their home, turned around and drove back to Indianapolis. Since 1968 Pam and Syd have been a part of the Indianapolis community living in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood and later for over three decades in their home near Park Tudor School on the north side.

Pam spent years skiing in Colorado with friends and family. For the last fifteen years they frequented their mountain home in Breckenridge, Colorado. She was an avid tennis player and photographer documenting happy times with her family, and enjoyed lively conversations with her many friends, traveling and collecting memories from interesting places. But most of all Pam loved and enjoyed life with her husband, her three children and five grandchildren.

In August 2010 her family, under the leadership of daughter Susan Marshall, hosted the first Pam's Party to Beat ALZ. This year, on September 29, the Third Annual Pam's Party to Beat ALZ, was held at Meridian Hills Country Club, with over five hundred attendees enjoying live music, hot air balloon rides and fun kids activities to celebrate the joy of Pam's life. Proceeds from Pam's Party provide assistance and respite relief for Alzheimer's disease caregivers through the "Pam Steele Fund" established with the Alzheimer's Association.

Pam is survived by Sydney L Steele, her husband of forty-eight years, their children, John William Steele, Susan (Steele) Marshall and her husband David Marshall, and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Steele) Basile and her husband Carl Basile, grandchildren, Taylor Sydney Steele, John "Jack" Steele Marshall, Adeline Pamela Steele Basile, Charles Woods Marshall and Saress Elizabeth Virginia Marshall, as well as Pam's devoted sister, Valerie (Wasson) Blom.

The calling is at the Leppert Mortuary, Nora Chapel , 740 E. 86th Street, on Sunday, October 14, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. A celebratory service for Pam will be at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 6050 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, on Monday morning, at 11:00 a.m.

You are invited to visit http://www.leppertmortuary.com where you may share a memory with the family, sign the guest book, or in lieu of flowers, Pam's family would appreciate contributions on her behalf to the "Pam Steele Fund" of the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Indiana, 50 East 91st Street, Suite #100, Indianapolis, IN, 46240, to the Ensemble Music Society, PO Box 40188, Indianapolis, IN, 46240, or to another volunteer organization of your choice supporting the Indianapolis community.

And Pam really loved hot air balloons.