Sarah Steele

The life of Sarah Ernestine Steele….

began on November 28, 1922 in Butler County Bowling, Alabama. She was the youngest child out of eight children born to the union of the late Mr. George Purdue and Mrs. Waddie Purdue.

Sarah met the love of her life the late Mr. Dan Steele and was wedded in Holy Matrimony at an early age.  Dan Steele was a faithful and loving husband and father. At his passing they had enjoyed 46 years of wonderful married life together. Through this union, they were blessed to have eight children but raised nine: Gennett Haynes, Clara Owens, Annie Rudolph, Dan Steele, Laura Steele, Sarah Simmons, Glen Steele, Phyllis Brown-Feagin, and Ruby Nell Rudolph.

Sarah was a beautiful, kind, loving, compassionate, Christian woman with a quick wit and sense of humor, who devoted herself to her family and friends. Sarah had a smile that could warm anyone’s heart and lit up any room she entered. She not only raised her children, but she also helped to raise grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews. She opened her heart and home to all those in need. If there is one thing that can be said about her it is that she would give her last to anyone in need.

Sarah was a God-Fearing woman and a person of great faith. She accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized into the Church of Christ. She was a member of Oglebsy Street Church of Christ under the leadership of the late Robert Stripling in Greenville, Alabama; Joseph Campau Church of Christ known today as Elmwood Park Church of Christ under the leadership of the late Orum Lee Trone, Sr. in Detroit, Michigan; College Street Church of Christ under the leadership of Bishnoo Rampersad in Greenville, Alabama; and Downtown Church of Christ under the leadership of Manuel Johnican in Norfolk, Virginia.

A s a member of the Church of Christ, she was very dedicated to being a servant of the Lord and believed in doing the Lord’s work. Along with being a dedicated servant of the Lord, she was a dedicated member of the Metropolitan Chorus of Greenville, Alabama, in which she was one of the original founding members in 1968. While in the chorus, she traveled throughout the state and beyond warming everyone’s heart with her rendition of ‘The Family Prayer.’

A side from being a God-fearing woman, wonder wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother, aunt and hard-worker. She enjoyed cooking, fishing, traveling, and reading her Bible. She spent her years working for Doctor Stephen Carter and ultimately for the Butler County School System where she retired in 1986 at the age of 63.

Sarah was preceded in death by her parents Mr. and Mrs. Purdue; her three brothers and five sisters; her three eldest daughters Gennett Haynes, Clara Owens, and Ruby Nell Rudolph.

Sarah transitioned this life late in the evening of August 7, 2020 at Sentara Leigh Hospital in Virginia Beach, Virginia surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She leaves behind to cherish her glorious 97 years of life: three daughters, Annie Rudolph of Greenville, Alabama, Sarah Simmons (Ronald) of Detroit, Michigan,  and Phyllis Brown-Feagin of Virginia Beach, Virginia; and two sons Dan Steele (Margaret Rush) of Detroit, Michigan and Glen Steele (Margaret) of Norfolk, Virginia;  along with a host of grandchildren; great-grandchildren; great-great grandchildren; and a host of loving and unforgettable nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Sarah Steele, please visit our floral store.