9/14/1930 – 12/23/2016
Margaret June Steele was born Margaret June Comer on September 14, 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the great, great granddaughter of Henry and Mary Shaw; the great granddaughter of Tennessee Margaret Cage — for whom she’s named; the granddaughter of Fannie Cage Comer and the daughter of Hersel Comer Hendrix. Until her passing, she was the oldest living member of the Tennie Shaw clan in Omaha.
After living with various relatives, including her great grandmother Tennie, she was legally adopted by Ruth and Henry Steele. She would be Ruth’s third child and Henry’s only child.
Though adopted, Margaret was “raised around the corner” from her great aunt Mae Perkins. Margaret would often “sneak over there” to play with Mae’s daughter Doris and her siblings. Margaret was especially fond of Richard, Ronnie and Raymond Perkins and would remain life-long friends with Doris until she passed in 2012.
Originally born in South Omaha, Margaret attended Highland Elementary School. After adoption, she moved to North Omaha and attended Long and Lothrop Elementary Schools. She graduated from the 8th grade at Lothrop and went on to attend Technical High School. Though she didn’t graduate, she valued education, and in the 70s, while working and raising four children, Margaret earned her GED, of which she was quite proud.
Her childhood home is located at 2418 Parker St. close to 24th St., which back in her day was the pulse of North Omaha. She often told stories of going to the dance halls, riding street cars and shopping “all up and down” the 24th street corridor. “Anything you wanted to do was right on 24th street,” she often reminisced.
In 1953, she gave birth to her first son, Michael Nathan White. Her second son, Marlowe White was born in 1954. Daughter Deborah Kay Steele was born in 1960 followed by the “baby of the family,” Lena Rene’ Steele in 1962.
Margaret, with GED in hand, hired on at Brandeis department store as a cashier during a time when most blacks could only work there as elevator operators or custodians. She continued working for Brandeis until it was sold to Younkers and retired from the Crossroads store in the late 90s.
In her later years, she had the opportunity to travel a bit and enjoyed frequent trips accompanied by Lena and her young daughter Ashley to visit Deborah in Columbus, OH. Margaret also enjoyed several trips to Maryland to visit Michael’s family or to Florida to visit her son Marlowe. She also enjoyed going to the Shaw Family Reunions. Feeling that family connections were very important, she was well versed in our history. In fact, she became known as the family historian and cousins would often reach out to her to get pictures, copies of documents, hear stories and clarify family history.
In 1986, she was blessed with her first grandson, Darren Lamison-White and in 1988 her second grandson Eric Lamison-White was born. Raised in Maryland, she didn’t get to see them regularly but often spoke of her grandsons with love and great pride. In 1994, her only granddaughter, Ashley Nicole Collins (her “mini me”) was born. They proved inseparable. Whenever out and about, people often remarked how Ashley looked like her grandmother. So much so, Ashley was known to say, “They call me “Little Margaret!”
Margaret also loved gardening, playing Words with Friends on the computer and iPad and “hanging out” with her girls. She could often be seen all around Omaha at the Zoo or events such as the Omaha Days and Juneteenth parades, all the Farmer’s Markets, the annual North High health fair and various other events. Her last outing was to the Omaha Community Playhouse to see Sister Act. Her favorite “soap poppers” as dubbed by “Little Margaret” included the Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful.
Though she had no physical church home, Margaret believed in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and studied the bible extensively. She often enjoyed listening to the Word on Sunday morning as taught by the Reverend Fred K. Price.
Margaret is preceded in death by her son, Michael Nathan White, birth mother Hersel Olivia Comer Hendrix, her adoptive parents Ruth and Henry Steele, her adoptive siblings Ruth E. Thomas and James Shearron, her special friend Jessie James Nixon Sr. and her most dear cousins Doris Perkins Stapleton and Welton Shearron Jr.
Leaving behind to cherish her precious memory includes her son Marlowe White, daughters Deborah K. Steele and Lena Steele-Collins (Fred) – all of Omaha, daughter-in-law Leatha Lamison-White in Maryland, grandsons Eric in California and Darren Lamison-White in Florida, Aunt Adeline Erwin in Indiana, sister Mary Gaskin in Denver and four nephews including Scott (Robbie) in Washington, Sean (Terri) in California, Steve Gaskin in Denver and Aaron Shearron in Omaha, along with a host of other family and friends.
Special Acknowledgements to Margaret’s extended family and special friends including Anita, Denise, Cecelia, Robin and Patricia Creighton, Shelly Phillips, Camille Brewer, Richard Perkins (Lalar), James Allen, Carmen Crawford, Kim Dunn, Sharon Brown, Thayla Martin, Toni Holiday, Sonja Merriweather (Wilber), Sheritta Strong (Damon) and Fred Collins Jr. and Rashon Collins Sr. (Vanessa). Special friends include Barbara Berry and Ruby Winston.
Visitation Friday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the funeral service follows from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Roeder Mortuary 4932 Ames Ave., Omaha, NE 68104. Burial at Mt. Hope Cemetery immediately following the service. Relatives and Friends will be received at St. Mark Baptist Church, 3616 Spaulding, Omaha, NE 68111. Cards and condolences can be sent to the Steele Family, 3161 Meredith Ave. Omaha, NE 68111
Memorials may be made to the American Lung Association, WWW.LUNG.ORG, 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150, Chicago, IL 60601. 1-800-LUNGUSA or 1-800-548-8252. info@lung.org.
