Nancy Ann Steele

Portsmouth, RI - Nancy Ann Peabody Steele, 70, of Portsmouth, RI, died Saturday, July 29, 2006 at home surrounded by her family. She was the wife of Joseph Raymond Steele.Born in Newport, RI on August 13, 1935, she was the daughter of the late John Forster and Mary G. Peabody. Mrs. Steele grew up in Middletown and was a 1953 graduate of Rogers High School. She completed her nursing program with a Registered Nursing degree from Deaconess Hospital in Boston in 1956. She married Joseph Steele in 1957 and they have been married for 48 years. Over the years, her career brought her to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, MA and Noble Hospital in Westfield, MA. She retired from work as an RN at Forest Farm Health Care in 1983. Mrs. Steele was a longtime member of St. Marys Episcopal Church, where she was active with the prayer shawl knitting group. Nancy also loved to quilt for family and friends.She is survived by her husband Joseph R. Steele of Portsmouth, RI, her daughters Karen Jeanne Cooper and her husband Bryan Cooper of Barrington, RI, Dianne Elizabeth Lehtonen of Sandwich, MA, and Joan Marie Sisson and her husband Albert F. Sisson, of Little Compton, RI, her son James R. Steele of Pembroke, MA, and a brother John Forster Peabody of Middletown, RI, and a grandson Justin Cooper of Barrington, RI, and granddaughters Stephanie Lehtonen of Sandwich, MA, Katie Sisson of Little Compton, RI, and Jennie Sisson of Little Compton, RI.Her funeral will be held on Tuesday, August 1, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Marys Episcopal Church, 324 East Main Road, Portsmouth. Burial will be in St. Marys Churchyard in Portsmouth.Calling hours will be held Monday, July 31 from 5-8:00 p.m. in the Memorial Funeral Home 375 Broadway Newport, RI.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Visiting Nurse Services Of Newport Bristol Counties, Hospice, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871.