Lasting Memories

Candace Dornblaser Steele
Aug. 11, 1931-Sept. 28, 2011
Boise, Idaho
Submitted by Heather Steele

Candace Steele was born Candace Hester Dornblaser on Aug. 11, 1931, in Minneapolis, Minn. She has a brother, Bright "Dorn" Dornblaser, who is six years her senior. In childhood, Candace became a lifelong lover of animals, especially horses and dogs. Her most unusual pet was a "de-scented" skunk.

Candace received a B.A. in biology with minors in history and international relations from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. As part of her studies, she traveled to Israel and lived on a kibbutz for four months. She was discouraged from pursuing her first choice of becoming a veterinarian because it was not considered a woman's profession. Instead she went into nursing, studying at the University of Denver, Stanford University, and the University of California, San Francisco.

One of her early nursing experiences was with the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky, where she traveled on horseback to serve families in remote roadless areas. A lover of wilderness, Candace met Charles "Chuck" Steele, an electrical engineer, on a Sierra Club backpacking trip. They were married in 1957 and settled in Palo Alto, Calif. With Chuck, Candace began attending Quaker meeting, espousing that group's beliefs in pacifism, individuals' basic goodness, and their ability to experience the divine directly without going through a clerical intermediary.

While raising three young daughters, she worked as a labor and delivery-room nurse. As hospitals adopted ever more invasive techniques in the birth process, she became an advocate of natural childbirth and a teacher of the Lamaze birthing method. Once her daughters were teenagers, she took a master's degree in marriage, family and child counseling. While semi-retired in Ashland, Ore., she counseled people struggling with alcohol, substance, and sexual abuse.

After one daughter came out as a lesbian, Candace and Chuck became passionate advocates for gay rights. Candace was eventually named Pacific Northwest Regional Director of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). In this capacity, she helped organize local chapters, counseled parents, networked with religious leaders, and spoke before legislatures to fight anti-gay prejudice, policies and legislation.

From her professional and volunteer pursuits to her love of animals, Candace consistently found ways to care for others with compassion and dedication.

Candace is survived by her brother, daughters Danae, Heidi and Heather Steele, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.