John Steer

JOHN W. STEER John W. Steer passed away at East Village Place in East Longmeadow, MA, on Thursday, December 15, 2011, surrounded by his family. He was 93 years old. Mr. Steer was born in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, on December 7, 1918, son of the late Alfred G. and Selma T. (Taber) Steer. He moved to Norwalk in 1949, where he and his wife, Inge, raised their family and spent summers sailing on Long Island Sound. Mr. Steer graduated from Westtown School and Swarthmore College. As a Quaker, during WWII he was a Conscientious Objector who served his country on the home front in several capacities, including fighting forest fires in the West. During his long and successful career in marketing in New York City, he worked on the advertising team for General Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential campaigns. John started as an ad writer for BBD&O, and retired from Cone Mills, Inc., as its Executive Director of Marketing and Advertising. During Mr. Steer's tenure at Cone, the company was the largest manufacturer of denim in the United States and he was instrumental in creating the revolution that turned blue jeans from the workingman's overalls to fashionable wear for young people around the world. In the 1960's, Mr. Steer was active in local civic affairs, serving as Fire Commissioner of Norwalk and participating in the rebuilding of South Norwalk, now SoNo. His many interests included sailing, music, and photography; in youth he was a folk singer and during his retirement he was a photographer and artist. Mr. Steer was predeceased by his wife of 58 years, Inge (ne Furth) Steer in 2004, by his youngest daughter, Deborah Susan Steer in 1976, by an older brother, Albert G. Steer, and an older sister, Beth Belcher. He is survived by his daughter, Diana Katherine Steer Holdsworth and her husband Jim R.L. Holdsworth, of Amherst, MA, and by his daughter Barbara Ellen Steer of West Palm Beach, FL. He is also survived by his younger sister, Mary Ellen Rugg of Kennett Square, PA. Funeral arrangements for Mr. Steer will be private. Those wishing to send condolences may contact Mrs. Holdsworth through the Sampson Funeral Home, 21 Tinkham Road, Springfield, MA 01129. In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for memorial contributions to the Deborah Susan Steer Scholarship Fund that John and his wife, Inge, established in 1977 to provide financial assistance for promising Duke University Under Graduates studying marine life-sciences at the Duke Marine Laboratory at Beaufort, North Carolina. Checks may be written to "Duke University - The Deborah Susan Steer Scholarship Fund" and mailed to: External Affairs at Nicholas School of the Environment, P.O. Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708-0328. For questions regarding this fund, please contact Carol Dahm at the Nicholas School: at 919-613-8018. Sampson Family Chapels of Springfield are entrusted with the arrangements.