Annabelle Lee Steele

Annabelle Lee Steele (Sherwood)

Annabelle Lee Steele was born at home in 1928. Her mother, Mollie Sherwood, was exhausted after hours of unmedicated labor and fell asleep. She awoke to find that her husband, Earl Sherwood, had named their first born after a character in the poem by Edgar Allan Poe rather than putting Penelope on the Morgan County form. Annabelle was raised, with her brother Robert Keith, in McConnelsville where her father was lucky enough to be employed as the Great Depression settled over America. His luck ended when she entered Junior High School. Earl heard there was work near Dayton at what is now Wright Patterson Air Force Base. He and a couple of friends both walked and hitch hiked there, and secured employment. He was able to send for his family in time for Annabelle to enroll in 9th grade at Bath Township High School, on Central Ave. She formed close friendships there and was active as a cheerleader and in choir. Her desire to attend college and study medicine was tenacious but unfulfilled, but it left her in place to meet the man she loved and with whom she built a life she loved.

In 1949, Annabelle married Joseph Marion Steele at the old Mary Help of Christians Church. They lost one child, Matthew, in infancy and raised 6; Constance Steele, Catherine Kissinger, Joseph M Steele II, Michael Steele, Annabelle Wallace and Elizabeth Samerdyke. They began their married life in Milan OH where her husband was High School teacher, Coach and finally Principal. Over time his career moved the family to Swanton, OH, Finneytown OH, East Clinton School, Jamestown, Ky, and finally to Piqua during the years that he served Bradford and then Graham Schools as Superintendent.

Marriage and family were the shared core of Annabelle and Joe’s lives, a commitment so obvious that twice they were sought out by community leaders to include a foster child into their home. With time, both children flourished and were able to return to their homes and families, but retaining affectionate attachments. Though her husband often worked second and third jobs during the summer, supporting a large family on an educator’s income was difficult, so, once her children were school-age, Annabelle returned to the skills she’d learned in High School. At first all that was available to her were jobs in secretarial pools. But Annabelle a voracious reader, and over the years sought out opportunities to broaden her skills and job experiences. As a result she was hired as executive secretary to the General Manager of the newly opening King’s Island. With warmth and intelligence, Annabelle enjoyed interacting with a great variety of visiting businessmen and celebrities, laborers and guests.

But her husband had a dream, to own and operate a family business. Annabelle walked away from her accomplishments and the challenges she enjoyed to move her family to Jamestown, KY and to whole heartedly work to establish The Steakhouse as a flourishing family business. But the ill health of aging parents brought the couple and their two remaining children- at- home back to Ohio after a couple of years.

Annabelle found employment in Sydney, OH in the law offices of Norman Smith and Lynn Swinger. Again, her capacity and enthusiasm for learning and adapting enabled her to quickly gain the skills of a valued legal secretary. When Mr. Smith was elected to the position of Juvenile Court Judge, Annabelle went with him.

Annabelle was widowed in 1986, a year after her husband retired. She continued to work into her 80s and enjoyed the company of friends from Sydney, OH and her High School years. Her children being conveniently located, Annabelle traveled extensively spending months every year with her daughter Cathy who taught at a Dodds school in Germany. She is survived by her children, nephew Greg Sherwood of Beavercreek, grandchildren (Hillary, Michael, Joey, Laura, Olivia and Ethan), 11 great grandchildren (Cole, Quin, Chase, Jack, Henry, Olive, Emi, Kana, Waylon, Cambria and RJ), and many cousins from the Zanesville area.

Annabelle’s life was memorialized on their tombstone with a phrase from the Poe poem that inspired her name: “…and they loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabelle Lee.”

A visitation will be held from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM, Friday, November 21, 2025, at the Belton-Stroup Funeral Home, 422 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd., Fairborn, OH, 45324. Following the visitation a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, at the Mary Help of Christians Church, 954 N. Maple Avenue, Fairborn, OH, 45324, Fr. Ambrose Dobrozsi, celebrant. Burial to follow at Fairfield Cemetery, Fairborn, OH. Arrangements in care of Belton-Stroup Funeral Home, Fairborn, OH.