Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Steere, William C. January 25, 1928 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Nan Snyder wheaton1624@yahoo.com June 8, 2017, 9:30 pm Ionia Sentinel-Standard - Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1928 DEATH CLAIMS W.C. STEERE ON WEDNESDAY For the Past 35 Years He Had Been Circuit Court Reporter for Ionia and Montcalm Counties. FUNERAL SERVICES FRIDAY William C. Steere, aged 70 years, died at his home on Washington street at Rich at 2:30 o'clock Wednesday morning. Mr. Steere's death was unexpected and while he has been in poor health for some time, no such sudden ending was looked for. He had been on duty last week in the Ionia circuit court where he performed his tasks as court reporter as usual. It is likely that the kaleidoscopic panorama of human life was viewed by no one more closely than by Mr. Steere during the 35 years he has acted as a court reporter. Almost daily during that time has his hand recorded the tragic and the humorous details of those intimate transactions that bring men and women of all ages into the courts. Clearly before him were told and by him set down the incidents and events that led up to the commission of every manner of crime, or to the misunderstandings and dealings that formed the basis of every sort of legal dispute. Pile upon pile of notebooks filled with his concise stenographic notes contained the complete records of major crimes that have been committed in Ionia and Montcalm, and other counties, the sad and the comic stories related in domestic squabbles of hundreds of couples, the stories of financial tangles, of property differences, of estate settlements, of, in fact, every controversy between human beings that lead them into a court for justice. For two years before his official appointment as circuit court reporter in 1895, Mr. Steere had performed the duty unofficially. During the period of his life in Michigan, most of it has been spent in Ionia and Montcalm counties. Born in Cedar Falls, Ia., in 1857 he came with the family of his father, Daniel Steere, to Lyons as a boy, and a few years later went to Stanton, where the home was built. For the past 22 years he has made his home in Ionia at Washington and Rich streets. As an official stenographer Mr. Steere reported the proceedings of the democratic national convention in Chicago in 1892 when Grover Cleveland was nominated for the presidency. He was a member of the Ionia Commandery Knights Templar. Surviving him are the widow and two daughters, Mrs. Margaret Wardrop, of Mt. Pleasant and Mrs. Merrie Helm, of Allegan. He was an uncle of Lloyd R. Steere, Vice- president of Chicago university. Funeral services will be held Friday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from the home. Rev. Trenerry, Pastor of the Baptist Church, will be in charge. _______________________________________________________________________ Sentinel-Standard - Friday, January 29, 1928 LAWYERS PAY TRIBUTE TO W.C. STEERE - Resolutions Passed at Meeting of Ionia and Montcalm Bar Friday Afternoon. FUNERAL SERVICES HELD Funeral services for William C. Steer were conducted from the residence here Friday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Rev. Trenerry, pastor at the Ionia Baptist church, conducted the services. Members of the Ionia and Montcalm county bars attended following a meeting held here at 1 o'clock Friday at which resolutions upon the death of Mr. Steere were passed. Honorary pall bearers named from the bar associations were George E. Nichols, Frank C. Miller, J. Clyde Watt, and R. A. Hawley of Ionia; C. B. Rarden of Greenville, John S. Tennant of Carson City, L. C. Palmer, and Frank A Miller of Stanton. The regular bearers were Hiram Darling, R. A. Colwell, Harry Gemeund, ___ O. Eldred, F. M. Marsh, and W. B. Heath. Among those here to attend the funeral from away were Lloyd Steere, of Chicago; George Steere and Mr. and Mrs. Ray King, of Stanton; Mrs. H. H. Glosser, of Buffalo; Mrs. W. Walter Smith, Chester Smith, Mr. and Ms. John J. McKenna, of Grand Rapids and Henry Higet of Detroit. Interment was in Highland Park cemetery. The following resolutions were passed by the Ionia and Montcalm bar association in memory of Mr. Steere. Resolutions upon the Death of William C. Steere. Whereas the grim reaper has once more invaded our ranks and called our friend and brother across the great divide, we the members of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, by these resolutions, desire to spread upon the records of the Circuit Court of Montcalm and Ionia Counties a slight recognition of our respect and regard for the one that has been our associate and friend for many years, and who has made his last note and reported his last case and whose kind smile and congenial presence have always been a pleasure and a satisfaction. William C. Steere was born June __, 1857 at Cedar Falls, Iowa, the son of Daniel and Sophia Steere, who became residents of Michigan. He has made Michigan his home until his unexpected and untimely death, occurring Wednesday morning, January 25, 1928 at his residence in Ionia where he has lived for the past 22 years. Mr. Steere was admitted to the bar at Stanton, Michigan, June 12, 1883, and practiced his profession for several years but by nature disliking the controversies and bickerings incident to the practice of law in those days, took up stenography as a work more suitable to his tastes, and on June 15, 1895 he was appointed official stenographer of the Eighth Judicial Circuit by Gov. John T. Rich, upon the recommendation of Judge Frank D. M. Davis, a position he has filled with great satisfaction to the court and the bar until the time of his death. Every member of the bar has at times discussed with him the philosophies of life, and found him possessed of broad insight into the problems that are so closely involved with our existence. Your committee has found, among the many of his writings of prose and poetry, one little poem written by him and published in The National Stenographer, in January, 1891, that is very expressive of his philosophy of life. He called it a "Tobacco Box Soliloquy", addressing himself to his old Tobacco Box which he had resolved to lay aside he said - "You never bragged when you were fat, nor growled when you were not." Additional Comments: Age: 70 Funeral: Friday, 27 January, 1928 Highland Park cemetery #11-107 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/s/steere6501gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 7.0 Kb