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Noted santos expert Father Thomas Steele dies at 76
Jesuit Father Thomas J. Steele, a local expert on the religious folk art of New Mexico, died Oct. 25. He was 76 and had been a Jesuit for 59 years.
Born in St. Louis on Nov. 6, 1933, he entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Mo., on Aug. 8, 1951, and was ordained on June 16, 1964, at St. Mary’s College in Kansas.
After ordination and tertianship, Father Steele completed a doctorate in English at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. After doctoral studies, he taught English at Regis College in Denver for nearly 30 years, retiring in 1997 as professor emeritus. During his time at Regis, he studied religious folk art of the southwestern United States and wrote several books about religious art and culture, including “Santos and Saints: The Religious Folk Art of Hispanic New Mexico.”
Father Steele was a natural storyteller, which he shared in his writing and in community life. Over many years, he developed the extensive Regis Santo Collection, housed in a small museum within the university’s library.
In 1997, Father Steele moved to Immaculate Conception Church in Albuquerque where he continued his writing and research while helping out with pastoral work in the parish. He visited Denver often, as he continued to serve as curator of the santos collection. He moved back to Denver and joined the Xavier Jesuit Community last summer.
Father Steele is survived by his three sisters: Dotty Steele and Betty Relling, both of Mesa, Ariz., and Marybel Cova of Kirkwood, Mo. Visitation and a funeral Mass were held Oct. 30 at St. John Francis Regis Chapel at Regis University.
Burial was at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge.
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