Colusa
County
Biographies
NED C. STEELE
Ned
C. Steele, manager of the Colusa County Telephone Company, is one of Colusa’s
most progressive and enterprising residents and has been a real factor in the
progress and advancement of the city in a commercial way. He was born in Beatrice, Nebraska, on the 2nd
of December, 1890, and when twelve years of age went with his parents to Omaha,
Nebraska, where he attended the public schools and after graduating from high
school he entered the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He was graduated from that institution with
the degree of Electrical Engineer, after which he entered the employ of the
telephone company at Omaha, where he gained a thorough and practical knowledge
of the business in all of its phases. In
1913 Mr. Steele moved to California and became connected with the telephone
companies in Lindsey, Sacramento, Oroville and Colusa. In 1919 he came to Colusa as manager of the
Colusa County Telephone Company, which operates six telephone exchanges in this
county, over all of which Mr. Steele has supervision. He has devoted his attention closely to
maintaining the telephone service at the highest possible standard of
excellence and that his efforts have been effective is evidenced by the substantial
growth in the number of subscribers and the volume of business in this
district. In June, 1929, he bought a
chain of motion picture theaters in Colusa, Arbuckle and Williams, which he is
conducting with very satisfactory success.
Mr.
Steele was united in marriage to Miss Alemata Molitor, who is a native of
Michigan, and they are the parents of four sons: George, aged fifteen years; Henry, aged
twelve; Frank, aged ten; and Ned C., Jr., aged eight years, all of whom are
native sons of California. Mr. Steele
has taken a keen interest in all matters affecting the welfare of his home
community, and is a director of the Chamber of Commerce. When he took up that work the Chamber had
three members, which there are at this time one hundred and fifty-five members
and the organization is doing much effective work in promoting the business
interests of the community. Mr. Steele
is an active member of the Colusa Rotary Club and is one of the sponsors of the
Colusa Boy Scout Troop, No. 5, in the welfare of which he is greatly
interested. Each year he takes the
Scouts to his summer home at Mineral, in the mountains, where they have an
enjoyable outing. He is a man of high
ideals and his efforts in the direction of advancement and improvement of the
city in which he lives have been appreciated by his fellowmen, who regard him
as one of Colusa’s best citizens, in the truest sense of the term.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 466-467. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Colusa County Biographies