Douglas Steel

Douglas Jeffrey Steel, 51, of Mount Airy, Maryland, passed from this life on Monday December 10, 2018 at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD.  Doug put up a valiant fight against Colon Cancer & was surrounded by friends and family at the time of his death.  His faith, hope, and optimism remained strong and he brought so much hope and peace to everyone around him.

Doug was born on April 23, 1967 in Silver Spring, Maryland.  He was the son of Joel Samuel (Sam) Steel and Beth Renfro-Pries.  They grew up in Olney, Maryland and moved to Monrovia, MD when Doug started middle school at New Market and then attended Linganore High, Class of 1985, where he played football and he and his buddy's would serenade the lunchroom with their glorious voices and started the largest food battle in the history of the school!.  As a child he loved to watch Ultraman and put on KISS concerts in the backyard, WHEN he wasn't train watching with his dad.  Doug graduated from University of Maryland with his Bachelors in History.  After graduation he started as a long time substitute teacher for Montgomery County Schools and worked his way into security for the schools in Montgomery County.  He spent his entire career with Montgomery County Public Schools and has been the Supervisor of school Safety and Security.  He LOVED going into the classrooms and reading to the children in the schools, we found several Thank You cards hand made by the children from throughout the years that he had saved.  Doug LOVED music, singing Rolling Stones or Steely Dan at the top of his lungs and trying to embarrass his wife and kids any chance he got by singing in his "opera" voice.  He was a natural born story teller and could make people laugh just by the animated faces he made during his stories!!  His long time passion for trains - collecting and going train watching - have led to a love of this to his son.  His father, Liam, and him would take long weekends to go stay in a hotel  that sat right on the train tracks where they would watch and take videos.  We were "blessed" with getting to watch all this videos, oh we just LOVED his train videos!  He loved all animals, especially his boxers, but his dear Pumpkin would never be found more than 2 inches from Doug at any given time!   He had a passion for horror movies, especially Hammer horror, and this led to many "forced" family nights full of horror movies, pizza, and laughter.  More than anything he loved all his kiddos, his wife, his family, and friends.  He would always be there for anyone who needed anything, he was a man of strong faith and infectious optimism.

Doug is survived by his wonderful and very patient wife Nedra :),  parents Sam Steel and his wife Laura and mother Beth Renfro-Pries and her husand Jeff, his sweet sweet sister Jennifer Steel, and sisters Shannon & Kelly Steel, and stepbrothers Lee and Dean Turner, his children Liam and Brae Steel and his stepson Theodore & Kaleb Butcher.  He will be lovingly remembered by all of his in-laws (and there are a ton) extended family, friends, and colleagues (again there are a ton).  In addition to all of his human friends, he will be missed by his three furry friends Zeus, Max, and dear dear Pumpkin.

The family will receive friends from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm on Saturday, December 15, 2018 at Stauffer Funeral Homes, 8 East Ridgeville Blvd in Mt. Airy, MD.  There will be a celebration of life from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm and a reception immediately following from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, all at the same location.  During the celebration of life we would like friends and family to share some "Doug" stories to help us celebrate his life.  Doug would want us to be able to laugh, cry, and lift each other up in spirit.  Rev. May will be officiating.

Interment will be held privately by the family at a later date.

Flowers may be sent to Stauffers or donations may be made to the Frederick Humane Society or St. Judes Children's Research Hospital.