Ellen Steele, 95, of Aurora, passed away June 23 2016.

Ellen Willey was born in Harmony Corners, Charlton, Saratoga County New York. She is survived by her son Laurence, daughter-in-law Virginia, granddaughters Pamela and Judith, and foster daughters Lonnie (Richard) Morgan, and Lyn (Don) Von Achen. A celebration of her life will be held later this summer.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Aurora Museum Foundation or the Plattsburgh College Foundation (SUNY Plattsburgh).

Ellen and her parents had a small family farm and a traditional New England farmhouse built in 1794 which still stands on Featherbed Lane. Following her father’s death in 1932, Ellen lived with a number of families while attending school in Schenectady, New York. This experience resulted in a life-long desire to help others and build community.

Ellen went to the one-room Harmony Corners School and made it all the way to Plattsburgh State Teachers College. Following her graduation she taught home economics - but quickly decided that it would be far more romantic to work at Colonial Williamsburg in its early years. From there, her itchy feet took her to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, California. Always outgoing, her extroverted personality, plus a background in home economics, were tickets to success in the hospitality field.

On a 1949 blind date, she met Joe Steele, a U.S. Army Captain on leave in San Francisco. They married 3 months later. Soon, she was on a ship bound for Japan to join Joe, who was stationed with the Army of Occupation. Within 2 years she also had a baby boy (Laurence) and a ticket back to the States. Later, she had a second little boy (Gerald, who predeceased her) and the family lived in Germany before transfer back to Joe's hometown, Denver.

She loved the West. She loved the mountain men and the military forts and the mountains. She read everything she could lay her hands on about the West. She was a pioneer, too. She went back to teaching, but in a new field. Special education was in its infancy, and she created the Grade 7 through 12 curriculums in special ed for the Cherry Creek School District. Though few people know this - it was Ellen who suggested that Overland High School be named for the Overland/Smoky Hill Trail. This suggestion paved the way for other high school names throughout the Cherry Creek School District.

The Steeles moved from Park Hill to Aurora Hills in 1963. Peoria was the end of civilization in those days and to move east of it considered folly. Havana Street and Alameda Avenue were two-lane roads (Alameda had yet to be paved).

Ellen wanted to make Aurora an even better place to live than she already thought it was. In 1969, the City Council appointed a Historical Commission to "look into the ways and means of operating a museum" in the City of Aurora. Ellen immediately applied and was duly appointed to the original body. She served on the Commission through the 1976 Centennial-Bicentennial. Her devotion to the museum continues - as a behind-the-scenes, cheerleader, volunteer, and major donor of books and artifacts and a vital, early financial supporter of the Aurora Museum Foundation.

Her activities on behalf of the collection, preservation and dissemination of Colorado and Western history were tireless, endless, and far-reaching. She co-owned and edited the Colorado Prospector Newspaper and held memberships and offices in everything from the Aurora Historical Society to the Colorado Corral of the Westerners, from the Green River Scalping and Joy Society to being the official Park Protector for Bent's Old Fort for the National Parks and Conservation Association, from the Colorado History Group to the Council on Abandoned Military Posts (now known as the Council on America’s Military Past) and as a board member and volunteer for the Friends of Historic Fort Logan.

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