Steele

Stacey Graham Steele, 75, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Walla Walla, Wash., on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. She was a loving spouse, mother, grandmother and friend.

Born in 1948, in Wichita, Kan., Stacey moved to Arkansas City, graduating from Arkansas City High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Wichita State University, where she also met her husband, Terry Steele, whom she married in February 1969.

Stacey and Terry moved to Slippery Rock in 1975. She earned her master’s degree in music from the University of North Texas and joined the faculty at Slippery Rock University, where she became assistant professor of flute, teaching for 25 years. She was so fond of her flute students, she made their community a family. She won the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007 and served as chair of the Pedagogy Committee of the National Flute Association and principal flute of the Butler Symphony.

She combined music with her love of travel, visiting nearly all 50 of the United States, as well as 26 countries on five continents. She gave recitals in Japan, Ireland, Spain, Quebec and around the U.S. Although classically trained, she loved all kinds of music.

Stacey was an excellent cook and host. She enjoyed bringing people around a table to tell stories and laugh. She felt at home outdoors, gardening and creating beautiful spaces everywhere she went. Her laugh brightened her surroundings, and her sense of humor came with a twinkle that enabled her to entertain 54 love and laughter-filled years with Terry, a consummate joker. Her grandchildren particularly shared in her joy and laughter.

She was sustained emotionally and spiritually by an extensive community of wonderful friends, students and family.

She is survived by her husband, Terry; son, Andrew; daughters-in-law, Melissa Queen and Paige Hepple; sister-in-law, Therese Fetter; and grandchildren, Mather and Deacon Steele and Graham and Katell Fetter.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Velda Graham; brother, Jack; and her son, Jeremy Graham Steele.

STEELE — Friends and family of Stacey Graham Steele, who died Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, are invited to gather in celebration of her life at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, at Swope Recital Hall, 101 Central Loop, on the Slippery Rock University campus. Those who play are invited to bring flutes.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to the Stacey G. Steele Memorial Music Education Scholarship fund at Slippery Rock University. Checks made payable to SRU Foundation, 104 Maltby Ave., Suite 102, Slippery Rock, PA 16057.

Local arrangements by SMITH FUNERAL HOME, Slippery Rock.

Please sign the guest book at www.butlereagle.com.