Patricia Lee Steele

Funeral Services for Patricia Lee (Chapin) Steele will be held at 10:30am, Monday, Mar. 23, 2026 at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer, 5440 Penn Ave. So. Minneapolis, MN with a visitation planned for an hour prior to the service, at 9:30am. After the service a light lunch will be served. A burial service will be held at Fort Snelling at 1:30 pm. Please wear purple as a remembrance of Pat. Purple was her favorite color. Patricia Lee Steele, 78, of Richfield, MN passed away suddenly on March 10, 2026 at her residence. She was born to Marshall J. and Dorothy May (Larson) Chapin on July 28, 1947 in Madison, WI. Pat was baptized on October 12, 1947 at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Madison, WI and spent her early years in southern Minnesota. At the age of 8, Pat, her younger sister, Marsha, and her parents moved to Minneapolis. Just a few months after moving to Minneapolis, Pat would lose her best friend, her daddy, to a car accident. Pat grew up in Minneapolis and attended Southwest High School. She was a member of the Silver Tri group which later changed their name to the Y-Teens. She was a member all throughout high school and helped to plan charitable activities for underprivileged children in the area. She was also a member of the Pep Club and graduated from Southwest High School in 1965. She then went on to earn her Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Certificate from the University of Minnesota. In December of 1969 Pat was scheduled to be married to Richard T. Steele (Tom) and had to postpone this due to Tom's U.S. Naval Training. Pat was with Tom until he finished his training then stayed with her mother and her sister-in-law while Tom was deployed overseas. Tom was then stationed in California. They were subsequently married on July 18, 1970 in this church with the bridesmaids in their warm, Christmas green dresses. Pat and Tom celebrated 51 years of marriage before her husband's passing in 2021. During Tom's Navy career, Pat was an active member of The Navy Wives of America as Tom was stationed all over the country. They had two sons, a stillborn infant son who is buried in Ellendale, MN, and Richard M. Steele. In 1988 Tom retired from the Navy and they moved back to Tom's family home on Ewing Avenue in Southwest Minneapolis. Pat helped Tom start a lawn and snow business called Steele Enterprises, which served many area businesses including this church. With her Nursing Certificate, Pat landed a job at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center. In 2004 Pat received a Service Award for 25 years at the VA Medical Center. In 2014 Pat retired from the VA Medical Center. Pat always enjoyed listening to Elvis Presley music, participating in charitable walks such as the Susan G. Komen Walk for Cancer. In her free time she sold Avon products to her family and friends. As everyone knows she loved her Minneapolis High School color of purple before any Minnesota musician made it famous. She really enjoyed her weekly swimming workouts at L. A. Fitness and the fellowship of being a member of this church. Pat was preceded in death by her wonderful husband and best friend Tom Steele, who passed December 2021, their infant son, her father, Marshall J. Chapin, and her mother, Dorothy May Larson. She is survived by her son, Richard Marshall Steele, sister Marsha, brother Mark, sisters-in-law Barbara and Kathie and many nieces and nephews.

Patricia Lee Steele

July 28, 1947 - March 10, 2026

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