‘Bill was Seneca’

If there was something going on in Seneca, chances are Bill Steep was there.

You could catch him in the audience of a village council meeting, in the stands with his wife at a high school basketball game or sitting at the table of a meeting helping to make decisions to better the village.

“It was kind of amazing over the last several years you could almost follow Bill’s footsteps every day, from the bank to the post office to the schools,” said Fran Kasten, who has known Steep since their high school days and worked with him on various boards and projects. “He was just always there. People always saw him.”

Steep died March 31 at the age of 90 at Pleasant View in Ottawa. He served as the village’s mayor from 1995-1999, was one of the founding members of the Seneca Regional Port District, treasurer of Seneca High School and Seneca Grade School and was active in other civic affairs.

Kasten recalled working with Steep in 1965 for the village’s 100th centennial celebration.

“Bill always had a community residence as a priority. He loved Seneca. He always looked to how our community could improve and wanting what was best for our residents,” Kasten said.

Steep served two years in the United States Marine Corps and two years in the United States Army. He married Lois Jelm on Feb. 27, 1954. The couple had four children. Lois died in 2014.

He started at Community State Bank as an assistant cashier and retired as president at the later renamed First Midwest Bank in 1993.

“He was a banker back when you could sit in one room and leave with a decision,” said Jim Olson, of Seneca. “Nowadays with all the changes that occurred, of course, you can’t hardly do that to buy a bicycle. He was in charge back then. Single people had a lot of control.”

As a business owner, Olson did business with Steep at the bank, but he also worked with him on a flood committee Steep formed several years ago.

“We had one major project that we did get accomplished that really helped out some flooding issues Seneca was having,” Olson said. “I know he felt good about that because everybody on that committee worked together and we did something that made a difference.

“That was a major project and it probably would not have happened if it were not for Bill.”

In 2009, he was surprised with a key to the village to honor his service — his wife snuck in to the village board meeting and was seated two rows behind him.

Seneca Grade School honored him in 2014 with a plaque to commemorate the 59 years he served as the school’s treasurer.

“We owe Mr. Steep thanks for his many years of service,” Superintendent Eric Misener said in 2014. “Our school is as successful as it is because of Mr. Steep.”

Rick Barla, who served with Steep on the village board, said Steep leaves behind a great legacy in the small village he called home since birth. In a 2014 Times article, Steep recalled how he was offered a job in Minooka. He said he opted to stay in Seneca and had no regrets.

“When you think of Seneca, I believe you can think of Bill Steep in doing that because he wore many different hats. He was working with both school districts — the grade school and high school districts — port authority, my goodness," Barla said. "He was with the American Legion.

"Bill was Seneca.”