Altheda Miller Steinbach

Altheda Miller Steinbach was born in Grover, Codington County, South Dakota on September 15, 1920, a month after the 19th amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote, in the sunshine state of South Dakota. She was born to William August Ludwig Zamow and Ruth Fornell Zamow. She lived on a farm near Grover, South Dakota with her younger sister, Betty. Her father, Bill, was an excellent mechanic and helped many of the local farmers with their farming equipment. Her mother, Ruth, was active in the church and a wonderful cook. Her banana cream pie was delicious.

Altheda attended college at Madison, South Dakota and taught country schools for two years. She caught the mumps from her students the first year of teaching. Earl Miller, who would become her fiancé, substituted for her. In her second year of teaching, Earl was a steady boyfriend. World War II started in 1939. Earl wanted to be a pilot but he had a very serious car accident that kept him out of the military service.

She changed careers from teaching to become a secretary. Her fiancee, Earl, flew to Seattle to be a flight instrument instructor. She brought his car out to Seattle in January 1942. Altheda and Earl were married on February 15, 1942 in Fife, Washington. Both of them worked for Boeing Company.

They both left Boeing at the end of WWII (1945). A Sears transfer took them to Los Angeles for a time, where she worked as a secretary. There was another war in 1950. The Korean War created job opportunities, so Earl returned to work for Boeing in Seattle.

In 1950 when she became pregnant with their first child (Linda Kay), she no longer sought secretarial work for the next 13 years. To be closer to both sets of grandparents in South Dakota, Earl transferred to the Boeing in Wichita, Kansas in 1952. Their daughter was 1 ½ years old. When twin boys, William and James, were born in 1955, she became active in many offices in the local and national level for the Twins Clubs (Mothers of Twins Club). She went back to secretarial work when her daughter was old enough to babysit her twin brothers. In 1965, Boeing in Wichita had slowed down, making another transfer necessary. Earl flew back to Seattle and was there during the April 1965 Seattle earthquake. He sent Altheda a chunk of the ceiling that hit his desk. During the summer of 1965, Altheda packed their belongings and drove the family station wagon, with 3 children, ages 15 and 11, and the family dog. She drove up to South Dakota for the children to see their grandparents. One of the memories of that trip was a stop to see the Passion Play in the Black Hills and a stop at the Yellowstone National Park.

Altheda did temporary Kelly Girl services until her twin sons were in the 8th grade. She acquired a nickname “Kelly”. She then returned to Boeing for executive secretarial work. In 1970, Earl was laid off in the big Boeing lay-off, when they said “the last one leaving from Seattle, turn off the lights”. He finally found work, only to learn shortly after that he had pancreatic cancer. The boys were able to be with their dad afternoons after college classes until their father died in June 3, 1974. Altheda and her children held the memorial service for Earl in Castlewood, South Dakota in the same cemetery as his parents and two of his brothers.

After 9 years as a widow, she married Ernest Otto Walter Steinbach on January 7, 1984 and they were married for 29 years until he died in 2013 at the age of 96 years. Her family expanded by adding step-children, who she loved dearly, Grace, Linda, Wayne (who died in 2009) Paul, and Norman. Altheda was very active in her Sea Tac church, Beautiful Savior Lutheran. For 15 years, she was President of the Women’s Group at church. In 1984, she retired from Boeing. She and Ernie took many fun vacation trips with her daughter, Linda, Linda’s husband Peter, and Linda’s in-laws, Marge and Alex Jekel. They went to Victoria and Vancouver, Canada; Honolulu and Hilo, Hawaii; Cancun, Mexico; Westport and Winthrop, Washington; Portland, Oregon. Linda and Altheda traveled to San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Washington DC. In 2003, Altheda and Ernie moved to Lacey to be closer to family. She and Ernie began attending Faith Lutheran Church in Lacey. They lived at Vista Village condominiums, enjoyed social events in the Vista Village clubhouse, and made many new friends. Every Saturday night for many years, she and Ernie played a very competitive game of Skippo with Marge and Alex (Linda’s in-laws) and Peter and Linda In 2005, she suffered 2 minor strokes, did physical therapy, but had permanent disabilities affecting her left side. In 2011, she and Ernie moved into Merrill Gardens (now Brookdale) assisted living where they received wonderful care from an amazing staff. She was a voracious reader, particularly enjoyed reading mysteries, had a bright mind and memory through all her 95 years.

Altheda passed away September 28, 2015. She had a cough soon after her 95th birthday that developed into pneumonia and she entered the hospital September 25th. Her mind was sharp until the end but her body had been weakening for more than a year.

Over the weekend of September 26th and 27th, her family members were with her to visit and express messages of love. Her sense of humor, intellect, spirited, and loving personality remained to the end as she conversed with family, doctors and nurses. She passed away peacefully, ready to go to Heaven.

Altheda was a wonderful, special and loving woman, daughter, wife, mother, step-mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and friend to everyone in her life. She will be greatly missed as we carry on her legacy of faith, caring and love for God, family and friends. She was an amazing example for us all, living out her faith and love for others.

She is survived by her sister, Betty Mahoney of Las Vegas. Children: Linda K.(Peter) Jekel of Lacey, WA, Will (Lorraine) Miller of Marysville, WA, and Jim (Ann) Miller of Seattle, WA. Step-children: Grace (Tom) Maier of Burien, WA, Linda Mae (Walt) Jackson of Kingston, WA, Paul Steinbach of Kent, WA, and Norman Steinbach of Kent, WA. She was also blessed with many grandchildren.

Services will be held at church, Faith Lutheran Church, 7075 Pacific Avenue, Lacey, WA on Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Youth Group at Faith Lutheran Church.