Ralph Burgess Steele
1932 - 2014
Ralph Burgess  Steele
Service Information
Service Date
Tuesday October 28, 2014
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It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Ralph Burgess Steele on October 22, 2014 at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital. He was 82.

A devoted and loving husband and father, he is survived by his wife of 56 years Martina (Daamen) and his daughter, Catherine and her partner, James Shannon of Basel, Switzerland.  He is also survived by several in-laws, nieces, nephews, and many friends.

Born in Canning, Nova Scotia, he was predeceased by his parents, Viola in 1942 and his father, Asa in 1945, and later his 9 brothers and sisters, Roosevelt, Cassie, Iva, Lillian, Lester, Florence, Pansy, George and Asa. 

His parents died when he was young and he went out to work at various places for his room and board. With two families in particular, the Wiesner’s in Canning, Nova Scotia, and the Price family here in Fredericton, he became like one of the family.

He moved to Fredericton in 1951 where met the love of his life, Martina.  Her large Dutch family, the Daamen’s with her parents and her 12 brothers and sisters became his family too. He converted to Catholicism and he and Martina married in St Dunstan’s church on October 11, 1958.

In 1963, Ralph and Martina moved to Toronto where their daughter, Catherine, was born in 1966.  They returned to Fredericton in 1968 and he worked for over 25 years for the University of New Brunswick on the maintenance crew.

Ralph will be remembered by all who knew him as a good man with a kind and loving heart.  He loved to have fun and joke around and was always smiling and laughing. He loved music, dancing and played guitar and sang in his early years. He was a friend for life.

Special thanks to Dr. Russell King, who was Ralph’s family physician for over 40 years, the caring nurses at the DECH on 4 southeast and the staff at Brunswick Hall and Governor Hall who looked after him before his admission to the hospital. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Society of New Brunswick. 

At the family’s request, there will be no visitation. Funeral services will be held at St. Dunstan’s Roman Catholic Church at 12 noon on Tuesday, October 28 with Father Monte Peters Officiating. We will miss him greatly and he will be in our thoughts and our hearts forever.

  

www.bishopsfuneralhome.com
Ralph Burgess  Steele