Margaret Inez McCreary Steele

Margaret Inez McCreary Steele, age 95, died in her sleep on April 29, 2020, at the Annandale Healthcare Center in Annandale, VA. Margaret, the twelfth child of Wiley Henry McCreary and Minnie Lee Greene, was born on September 25, 1924, in Gaston County. Her family later moved to a small farm near Kannapolis. Margaret graduated in 1942 from Landis High School, where she was inducted into the National Beta Club for outstanding achievement. After graduation, Margaret married Clyde Kelly Steele on November 12, 1942, and the young couple moved to Akron, OH, where Clyde was employed in the aircraft industry. They soon returned to N.C. when Clyde received his draft notice and entered the military on April 7, 1943. Clyde served as a radio operator in bombers flying out of England through most of the rest of World War II. Meanwhile, Margaret moved in with two of her sisters and a young niece in N. Kannapolis, and waited for the birth of her first child on October 21, 1943. After the war, Clyde re-joined his family and worked as a salesman, while taking courses at Catawba College and Wake Forest College. With a growing family, Clyde decided to re-enter the Army by enrolling in the Corps of Engineer's Associate Basic Officer's Course at Ft. Belvoir, VA. Margaret subsequently spent the next 25 years as a military wife, living in over seven states and in Germany twice. Margaret organized the moves for her family, and made sure the children had ready access to libraries and books. Clyde retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1968, and the couple settled in Salisbury. Twenty years later, the couple divorced in February, 1988. In January 2008, Margaret moved to an assisted living facility in Annandale, VA, in order to be closer to her two youngest children. Margaret had six children, five of whom are still living: Phyllis Eileen Steele, PhD (husband, Wendell E. Rhine, PhD) of Belmont, MA; David Lee Steele, PhD (wife, Darlene Adams) of Raleigh; John C. Steele (wife, Susan Hovorka, PhD) of Austin, TX; Judy A. Steele of Arlington, VA; and Gary A. Steele (wife, Christina Spies) of Arlington, VA. Carolyn Kay Campbell of Graham, predeceased her mother on March 18, 2020. Margaret is survived by seven grandchildren: Terry Steele (wife, Megan Robinson), Brian Steele (wife, Heather Wild), Dan Campbell (wife Cynthia), Margaret Steele, PhD, Theresa Steele, Lucas Steele, and Alexandra Steele. She also leaves seven great-grandchildren: Katherine (Kate) Steele, Jack Thomas Steele, Hazel Elizabeth Steele, Aidan Steele, Macklin Steele, Jessica Campbell, and Bryan Campbell, as well as a number of nieces and nephews. Margaret's cremains were interred on May 21, 2020, at the Carolina Memorial Park in Kannapolis, near the burial site of her parents and other relatives. Memorial gifts may be made to a charity of one's choice.