Never to be confused with being a “fancy” man, he loved Big Macs and preferred his coffee black. Harvey none-the-less always ordered his salads with “roquefort” dressing. Not many servers even knew what that was, but if they did, they would offer blue cheese, which was just fine.
On October 9, 1934, Harvey William Steele was born
in Portland, Oregon.
He was born to William and Dorothy Steele (Anderson), and grew up in the Lents and Westmoreland districts, and attended Franklin High School. He attended Portland State for one year and in 1953 he enlisted in the Army, assigned to the Signal Corp, working as a cryptographer. After a period in Georgia he is stationed at the Pentagon in Washington DC for advanced cryptographic training and also does a 16 month tour in Korea. He discharges honorably from the Army in 1956 as Sergeant and then returns to Portland State to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus on Social Sciences.
Married to the love of his life Carol Louise Anderson
on August 15th, 1959
Shortly after marriage, Harvey accepted a job at Roosevelt Junior High in Eugene, Oregon. After two years in Eugene, and despite being awarded a Woodrow Wilson teaching scholarship, he decides to take the Federal Service Employees test, scoring very high and becomes a federal investigator doing FBI clearances in Seattle and then later in Berkley, California. In 1963, Harvey took the federal test for a second time, scored high (again) and he and Carol returned to Seattle where he accepted a job at US Customs as an Import Specialist.
Harvey and Carol have two children:
Christopher (1964) and Jonathan (1968)
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In 1966, Harvey was offered a position in Portland and returned to his hometown living in East Portland near the Rockwood area for the remainder of his life. Harvey retired from US Customs in 1994.
His obsession with cheese was long standing. Immediately upon arriving home from work, he would head to the kitchen and cut off a few pieces of sharp cheddar to adorn a Triscuit or Wheat Thin.
PASSING
Harvey William Steele passed away from natural causes early in the morning of January 25th, 2022. A resident of Gresham, Harvey is survived by his loving wife Carol, his brother Edward, his sons Christopher and Jonathan, and grand-daughter Erika Rose. Harvey is interned at Willamette National Cemetery honoring his Veteran status.
Sadly, for the last several years of his life, Harvey had suffered from severe dementia. His condition had rapidly progressed to the point that his treatment required him to be moved away from an assisted-living apartment with Carol into the memory care unit. In December of 2021, following an acute medical condition, he moved into a group home focused on caring for persons with dementia.
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He never wanted to be the center of attention, but when he started speaking, everybody listened. With a near photographic memory, his encyclopedic knowledge on a range of subjects captivated those in ear shot.
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The tragedy of his advanced dementia is that it erased huge swaths of his encyclopedia. He never had any chronic illnesses like diabetes or hypertension and would say that he has “never had a lit cigarette in his mouth”, yet the disease rendered his personality changed, his mind captive and uncontrolled.
I remember once, while in High School, Dad took myself and a friend to the art museum and as we were walking through the Asian collection, Dad described to us the various pieces, from the furniture to the pottery, explaining the techniques used and pointing out the differences in the time periods. I turned around to find a group of about 10 people surrounding us listening intently, and a young docent standing there with a confused look asking my dad "do you work here?"
~Jonathan
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SPORTS
Harvey enjoyed all sports, particularly baseball, basketball and golf. He would frequently take the boys to Portland Beavers games with his father. While neither Chris or Jonathan were particularly athletic, Harvey painted a basketball key on the pavement in front of the house. The way the backboard was situated, when a successful goal was made, the ball would hit the side of the curb in precisely the right angle to send the ball shooting down the cul-de-sac. Games of basketball on that street frequently involved a bit of Track & Field as well.
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He really preferred baseball over all the other sports, possibly because it was a “thinking man's” game, with an emphasis on strategy and statistics. Harvey would tell a story about his father who would sit on the porch of the house and call strangers over to show how Harvey could recite random baseball stats from memory. That might actually be a variation of a line in the Bill Cosby routine “The Chicken Heart That Ate New York City” from the 1966 album “Wonderfulness”, but it’s also part of the Steele Family Cinematic Universe™.
Harvey played in several basketball and softball leagues throughout his life, including a U.S. Customs and brokers league. He hosted regular volleyball games with members of Gethsemane Lutheran Church.
As a child, I decided to "fix" one of Dad's golfing trophies, straightening out the bent golf club. The trophy was from a tournament where Dad had earned the honor of "most bogeys".
~Jonathan
RELAXATION
After dinner, Harvey would enjoy a cup of hot tea. Even in the middle of July, Harvey would take his hot tea to the backyard and sit in a lawn chair to enjoy the evening. He frequently retreated to his library to do some reading and listen to music. Naturally, most of his reading was on technical subjects, but he also enjoyed philosophy and poetry. He loved jazz and classical music, and played it loud. His mix was a variety of Bill Evans, Mozart, John Barry and John Williams movie soundtracks, and for good measure a bit of Ray Conniff.
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The family regularly attended symphonies, oftentimes the “pops” concerts in deference to the children. Harvey and Carol traveled to Ashland many times to attend the annual Shakespeare festival.
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He enjoyed classic movies and would take Chris and Jonathan to the Woody Allen film festival at the art theater in downtown Portland. He liked Stanley Kubrick movies and took the boys to see “Dr. Strangelove” whenever it played.
GETHSEMANE LUTHERAN CHURCH
Harvey attended Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Portland. He frequently volunteered to head up committees and was a member of the Church Council at one point.
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He taught Adult Sunday School, often focusing on subjects related to biblical history and archaeology.
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He organized a popular volleyball night, so popular in fact, that it was separated into the "casual" and "performance" groups.
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He was always the Annual Church Meeting Parliamentarian. Harvey had a special way of explaining the meeting process that was to follow if something came up that members were unsure about. Everyone understood that Harvey knew the process to a successful meeting outcome.
You haven't lived until you've had a
Ruby Ale from McMenamins.
~Harvey
Ernie Butenschoen
The thing that made me smile and sometimes laugh about was when he was working in the book room during our annual rummage sale at the church. He would first organize the books into categories.
Then he would ask people what their interests were and direct them right away to that area of the room. Like a car salesman he would give them a pitch about what a great set of books they were looking at and then give them his special price.
Most people would not have given the special treatment that Harvey did for the book room customers.
Harvey was special. He was kind, loving and smart.
Lyle Johnson
The word to describe Harvey was "exuberant!" He would say "good morning" and mean it!
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He was always optimistic and his faith was unwavering!
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I was one of the musicians in the church. I played piano at least once a month, and Harvey always made a point of coming up and telling me how much he enjoyed my music.
He always left you feeling better about yourself after he walked away. I will always miss his genuine smile, strong handshake and the twinkle in his eye.
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U.S. Customs
1963 to 1994
The 511 Federal Building in Portland
Photo by M.O. Stevens
As a Commodity Specialist with Customs, one of his areas of expertise was antiques. It was his job to determine if items imported were legitimately antique and would therefore be exempt from tariffs.
He became a national expert in dating furniture and ceramics. Using the resources of Customs, he worked with colleagues to perform experiments on items using scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and other technologies. He became fascinated with the idea of using micro-structure analysis of ceramics and their glazes as a unique finger-print to determine not only age, but also to pinpoint the region of manufacture.
Probably because of his public speaking abilities, and his authoritative knowledge of a variety of subjects, Harvey has been featured several times in the The Oregonian on matters related to U.S. Customs.
Harvey took his job seriously, he really believed in the mission of protecting the public interest. For example, he went beyond what was expected in investigating the source of steel being imported for the construction of the Fremont Bridge. Turns out the contractor was buying cheaper steel from a non-approved source than what had been specified. He forced them to re-document everything, ensuring it was all up to construction specs.
Another time, he highlighted some inconsistencies in fasteners being imported for use in aircraft, pointing out there was no way aircraft grade fasteners could be obtained so cheaply. It prompted the FAA to review the parts acquisition program of a major airplane manufacturer, ensuring safety and compliance.
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A different time, he became suspicious of some wooden furniture that was being imported. He discovered the wood was full of white powder. Initially he thought he had discovered a drug smuggling operation, but it turned out the powder was from a wood boring insect infesting the lumber, in itself a major problem.
Rick Housman
In the 1980’s, the owner of a small gift shop wanted to get in on the Wacky Wall Walker craze that was sweeping the country (it was a rubbery octopus that stuck to walls and slowly walked down). He became a first-time importer by placing an overseas order for some but was unaware that a US company had filed a patent restriction with Customs to prevent other from importing these toys.
Naturally, they were seized by a Customs inspector and Harvey was the toy specialist who sent out the notice. When I read the Patent notice on file with Customs I saw that it took effect on all shipments with a date of export after my importer’s shipment sailed.
Harvey agreed that while the cargo arrived in the US after the patent restriction went into effect, it sailed beforehand and was therefore not covered by the restriction. The inspector was furious that his seizure was overruled and suggested to Harvey that they simply release the cargo and tell the importer that there was no problem. That way they could wait for the second order and then make a proper seizure.
Harvey would have nothing to do with this deception and even called me so I could relay the right information to the importer. Harvey knew the rules and regulations, and followed them whether they favored the importer or Customs.
He was good at his job.
Unfortunately, not all of his actions turned out as planned. One of the last major projects he worked on before retirement was investigating unsafe packaging and shipping of hazardous chemicals.
He really put in extra effort on it, documenting dozens of serious systemic violations. He dutifully sent his findings up the bureaucratic chain, hoping for some strong enforcement actions, but the administration at the time had different priorities, and let most of the violators off with no more than a slap on the wrist.
John Duncan
It was my good fortune to have Harvey as my first Team Leader when I became an Import Specialist.
He was generous in tutoring me and set a great example in treating everyone in a respectful and friendly manner.
He taught me much about the valuation and appraisement of antiques, and encouraged me through word and example to become technically proficient in whatever commodity line I was assigned, which, in turn, gave me much satisfaction in my work.
Harvey was a great guy.
Steve Flury
Starting out as a messenger at Geo. S Bush & Co., Harvey was one of the first Customs people I met and as a “rookie” going in to that intimidating ancient building, one of the nicest.
I remember how fascinated he was when it came to some of the imports that were antiques, or in his initial opinion, maybe should not be claimed as antiques.
As a 17 year old, I thought an antique was just something that was old. Harvey was quick to educate me on that misnomer.
Dad was also popular at "career day" presentations at school. I remember once in 8th Grade, dad talked to our class. He had brought a selection of toys that had been seized because they were deemed too dangerous to import. He used a"toy" blowgun to put a dart in the bulletin board from halfway across the room. Then he showed a skit from Saturday Night Live. The teacher looked slightly alarmed. The students loved it! Another time he was able to schedule a demonstration of the DEA drug sniffing dog and handler for a class field trip to violently tear apart the door panels of a late model Ford.
~Chris
Dan and Nancy Stueber
Harvey’s knowledge and network through his “day job” with the US Customs Service made him a valued resource and expert in many fields in addition to archaeology.
In the 1990’s OMSI was in the process of bringing an internationally touring exhibition about early humans, Missing Links Alive, to the museum. Portland was to be the US premier for this acclaimed exhibition, with priceless artifacts on loan from the Czech Republic and Denmark.
The opening date had been announced with much fanfare by the press. Then, just weeks before it was to open, the exhibition was held up by Customs on the East Coast and all efforts by the Danish producers had failed to get it released.
Nancy called Harvey! In no time he understood the issues, made some calls, and implemented the steps needed to break the logjam to get the exhibition to Portland in time. He brushed it off with typical humility, but we were so grateful for his efforts, and so pleased to host him as an honored guest at the opening reception!
From an internal newsletter for U.S. Customs employees
Harvey travelled periodically for Customs training and seminars. He never understood why the other Import Specialists avoided the travel opportunities, since he would use his off-time to visit museums and historical areas that he would otherwise be hard-pressed to see.
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A huge fan of cartoons, especially the dry humor from the New Yorker, oftentimes, he would send the family his own hand-drawn cartoons about his experiences.
Archaeologist and Historian
While his career with U.S. Customs included many accomplishments, his life's passion was truly archaeology, history, and genealogy. Both Harvey and Carol were very active as amateur archaeologists. Bush-whacking through stinging nettle at a remote Native American site down-wind from the paper mill in Camas was considered to be a "typical family outing".
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Harvey and Carol participated in excavations at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and and also at numerous remote sites. During Fourth of July celebrations, Harvey would dress up in period clothing and give tours of the Chief Factor's House at Fort Vancouver.
OREGON ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
It's unclear when Harvey's membership with OAS began, but likely sometime in the early 1960's. He was awarded a Life Membership and is still on the member list. He edited the OAS publication Screenings from May 1975 through October 2000.
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He was vice president in 1997 and president in 1998, and was a member of various committees such as publicity, projects, scholarships, and probably many more at one time or another. He also served as secretary in 1974.
Glenda Satterthwaite
Harvey wrote many very detailed articles throughout his tenure as editor of Screenings. Generally on topics that would enhance knowledge of artifacts that would possibly be found in Oregon and Washington.
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Harvey’s were detailed descriptions of items, their construction and uses, and how they help archaeologists interpret the past.
From those articles I now have a brief history of wood and metal screws and how they were made and used. I also know the types of scrapers what they are made of and basically how to tell one from another. I can see the differences between knives by looking at the shapes and materials. There were many more similar to the ones above.
Dan and Nancy Stueber
When we first moved to Oregon in 1981, Nancy started to work in public programs at OMSI, and was introduced to OAS through their monthly meetings at the museum and their annual archaeology show.
She and Dan were quick to attend an OAS meeting and Harvey was one of the first people to welcome us. From the start he was warm and enthusiastic, promoting the value of OAS membership, and quickly recruiting us as members.
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Harvey and Carol had been leaders, working diligently for several years, to shift OAS away from a culture of artifact collecting to a culture of education, research, and support for professional archaeologists.
Harvey was a leader of the cause through the turmoil of those years, and was instrumental in laying the foundation for the training programs for amateur archaeologists and the education efforts that characterize OAS today.
FORT VANCOUVER
Details provided by Douglas C. Wilson Ph.D
Harvey worked at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site through the Oregon Archaeological Society (OAS) in the 1970s and 1980s, and he was a very important and special volunteer. Harvey was an enthusiastic supporter of the site and always sought to link professional archaeologists with volunteers. He was a leader in citizen science in the Pacific Northwest and at Fort Vancouver.
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The largest excavations at the site of the Sale Shop were in 1974 led by OAS volunteers under Harvey Steele in collaboration with National Park Service archaeologists. The project opened 21 excavation units to try to find out more about the structure which was a central part of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort.
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In the 1980s, the OAS conducted large volunteer projects at the 1845 HBC New Office (Counting House) and Jail sites, co-directed by Charles Hibbs and Harvey Steele. Excavation of the Jail site occurred in 1984–1985, with OAS volunteers composing most of the workforce. Harvey also led excavations at the Counting House during the summers of 1986–1988.
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Both buildings were reconstructed in the 2000s using data collected by Harvey and his team. In the preface to the final report on the Jail excavations, Steele and Hibbs (1985:1) identify the project as a “milestone in citizen archaeology,” with the role of direct public involvement identified as necessary to garner public support for archaeology, including legislative funding of programs related to archaeological sites.
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Harvey wrote about the role of tariffs and their effects on the HBC's British goods in the 1975 Spring Northwest Anthropological Research Notes (Now the Journal of Northwest Anthropology) titled "U.S. Customs and the Hudson's Bay Company, 1849-1853". He was also an instrumental force in the custom's house reconstruction at Astoria. Among the many non-Fort Vancouver projects he worked on, he studied the Chinese ceramics from the Beeswax wreck at the Netarts Sand Spit site in Tillamook County and ceramics analysis at the site Clah-Cle-Lah at Bonneville Dam.
Harvey would be thrilled to see the involvement today of young adults in archaeology. A quick glance at the Facebook page for the Fort Vancouver Historic Site shows a variety of young people caring for and providing education about the important fur trade fort and surrounding areas.
Douglas Wilson
Harvey was an amazing, talented, selfless and kind volunteer who helped pioneer public and community archaeology in the Pacific Northwest.
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He was a great light in avocational archaeology and I smile every time I pass by the reconstructed customs house in Astoria.
Bryn Thomas
I think Harvey was an amazing and kind person.
His energy and scholarly productivity were impressive and I believe Fort Vancouver National Historic Site benefited from his presence.
PITTOCK MANSION SOCIETY
Harvey served on the Board of Directors from August 1996 to December 1998 when he resigned to pursue writing projects. He was very active in the historic preservation aspects of the mansion.
Janet Wilson
Harvey was such a wealth of knowledge!
He will be missed by so many… he was fun to work with on our furnishings committee and had great ideas for the mansion.
Harvey creates a mock excavation site for students at Lynch Terrace Middle School.
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HISTORIAN
While Harvey was thrilled with on-the-ground discovery of an artifact at an excavation, he was equally passionate about revealing the history behind it.
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Harvey had always been an avid writer. At Portland State, he wrote for, and briefly edited their literary journal The Review winning an award for his essay "The Ancient Quarrel". He loved to put himself in the time and place of the historical subjects he was researching.
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In 1990, as part of the U.S. Customs Bicentennial, Harvey was commissioned to produce several historical studies of the Customs Service in the pacific region. In the colophon for "Hyas Tyee, The United States Customs Service in Oregon, 1848-1989", he writes "the original text, arrived in the form of typescript from what appears to have been an uncommonly ill-maintained 1939 Underwood".
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Much of Harvey's writing can be found in Screenings, and contributing to numerous technical papers buried in the vaults of universities and historical societies in the Pacific Northwest. While many of the titles look something like "Chinese porcelains from site 35-TI-1, Netarts Sand Spit, Tillamook County, Oregon" (with his kindred spirit and close friend Herb Beals), he did publish a book with longtime friend Richard Pugh that was briefly sold on Amazon titled "China Painters of the Pacific Northwest".
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Genealogist
Harvey and Carol have long been interested in Genealogy, but their activity in the field peaked in the late 1980's and 90's. After Harvey's retirement in 1994, they travelled extensively collecting records and visiting the towns and cities where the families originated.
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Not content to produce pedigree charts and raw data, Harvey's writing exploded. He created short histories of members of the Steele and Anderson families.
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The website that you're currently viewing is actually one of Harvey's dreams. He wanted to produce an online literary historical record from all the data and photographs collected, suggesting the title could be "The Magnificent Steele Family". A rare moment of immodesty for him.
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The coda of Harvey's "magnificent" life marks the creation of this Steele Family historical record, appropriately christened with his memoriam.
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Not surprisingly, as Harvey entered the local Genealogy societies, he quickly became immersed and found another outlet for his historical writing.
Genealogical Forum of Oregon Acting President Laurel Smith shares Harvey's own words to describe how he came to the rescue when the trio of Bulletin editors suddenly resigned.
Harvey Steele
It was a foggy January day in the city, but the message was clear: GFO President Laurel Smith announced we would create a new edition of the Bulletin for March 2014.
Who would do it? What resources did we have? Could we meet the deadlines?
My mind whirled with possibilities. It would take the precision and determination of a Prussian officer to sustain this GFO tradition in the short time available, but I knew we could do it.
Harvey worked magic helping to pull material together and guiding GFO through the editing process. He stayed at the helm until another came forward to take over. Then, Harvey continued to provide fascinating articles for future issues.
Laurel Smith
I loved working with Harvey on those articles. What a fascinating life Harvey had. The one I enjoyed the most was in the March 2015 issue when the topic was The Heirloom Cloisonné of Occupied Japan.
Harvey and I got together at a local Starbucks to have coffee and a treat while we discussed the article.
He carefully explained the cloisonne process as he mimicked the actions of the craftsmen he’d witnessed.
Harvey was an expert on so many subjects. He loved talking about what, in customs terms, constituted a doll and why it was an important distinction for toy manufacturers. Or about archaeology and finds at Fort Vancouver, or early Oregon City history.
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​Harvey had a big heart. I’ve thought of him so often over the years since his illness took him from us, and I’ll always remember his kindness, his ability to tell a story, and his amazing knowledge.
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Judi Scott
I am so sorry to hear the news that Harvey has died. Harvey was a long-time member of the GFO, and part of a group of regular attendees of the Writers’ Group for many years.
We shared many stories in our group, and we could always count on Harvey to share his knowledge on many diverse topics. Eventually, several of us worked on The Bulletin, a quarterly publication of the GFO.
Harvey wrote a regular column called Relics about a variety of historical objects and events. He was also working on a history of the southeast Portland neighborhood where he grew up. We have missed him since he left the group and always hoped he might return.
Family
Richard Anderson
The years that Harvey and Carol traveled to Rockaway to join in our celebration of family and friends are some of the most treasured memories I hold of Harvey.
I relished those “reunions” at the beach as I knew they would provide ample opportunity to talk with “my cousin Harvey”. I so looked forward to our talks. The topics were sweeping, varied, informative and for me always fascinating.
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The hours would simply disappear. Time’s relativity was always made abundantly apparent by the dinner call, awakening us to the afternoon’s passage into evening, the sun being significantly nearer the horizon.
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I found Harvey to be that rare individual who treasures art, values science and appreciates both. It was clear to me he took satisfaction in that perspective and great joy in sharing his experiences with both.
The radiance of his smile when he knew he was sharing, connecting is something I will not forget.
In his own lilting style, it was always, “beautiful”. As I type that word I can still hear him say it. I only wish I could easily render to the page and share it as he spoke it. I most certainly do and will always miss the passing of our conversations and our times together.
They were and will always special, always be “beautiful.”
EPILOGUE
Hopefully Harvey would forgive the author of this memoriam if I break the "fourth wall" and move into a first-person narrative for this section.
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I think one of the things that has choked me up the most while compiling this biography is not my father's many accomplishments, but rather the connections to so many people throughout his life.
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As I've reached out to brokers, co-workers, and members of the societies he was involved with, it quickly became apparent that he was a respected colleague and mentor to dozens, maybe even hundreds of people.
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I made a joke at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary that Dad's super power was the ability to put people to sleep with the sound of his voice. Being able to pick a random subject and speak extemporaneously about it for hours. He commanded encyclopedic knowledge on a wide variety of obscure subjects. I'm not exaggerating, it says so right here in the Oregonian...
It was a decent joke, and I think it got a laugh. Easy enough for those of us in the family to roll our eyes when Dad would launch into an impromptu dissertation.
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Dan and Nancy Stueber
We were always so impressed with Harvey’s encyclopedic knowledge and ability as an articulate communicator. He was widely read and an expert on so many topics.
He had a photographic memory and in the midst of conversation he could cite dates, names, and facts with remarkable accuracy. Needless to say, he became the go-to authority and resource!
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Harvey and Dan hit it off right away. They shared a curiosity about the world and history, and an irrepressible enthusiasm for learning.
Dan was a budding flintknapper who was fascinated with understanding the technology of stone tools, not just making them. Harvey quickly recruited him to join a flintknapping group with Dr. John Fagan, as part of a cohort of experimental skills practitioners that he was putting together. Harvey always encouraged Dan in his interest of stone tools and was impressed with his commitment and the questions he would ask.
Harvey shared boxes of archaeology-related books with Dan, and had a significant influence on his career in archaeology. One day he wagged his finger and said “you’re going to be a lithics analyst,” to which Dan laughed.
Today Dan is a leading lithics expert, involved in groundbreaking research with numerous universities.
Dan's story exemplifies exactly what my father was all about, and we loved him dearly for it. He always wanted you to be smarter than him, to achieve your highest. He would help you with all his ability, but he never wanted to take any credit. He believed in the people around him.
That was what made him so important to all of us. He was a "know it all" but without the bravado. He was often the smartest person in the room, but he always wanted to hear what everyone else thought.
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My father's family extended well beyond our front door, and despite all of his outside interests, he always put us first. He didn't really like hiking around Mt. Hood, but that was Mom's passion, so he gave it equal billing with his hobbies. Mom and Dad were intellectual equals and he adored her completely.
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Our father was always present for us. All of us. He instilled in everyone he connected with the most important values of being passionate about learning, and to present yourself with honesty and decency.
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Rest in peace, Dad.
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This & That by Richard Anderson
