Marion Parsons Warren (1886-1924)

Marion Parsons Warren was born on 28 December 1886 in Chicago, the daughter of William Seymour Warren and Fannie Roby Parsons. She attended University School for Girls, Chicago, and Bryn Mawr College. After two years at Bryn Mawr (1903-05), she returned to Chicago, where she was active in church work and girls' clubs until her marriage. An excellent golfer, Marion was active in the Women's Western Golf Association; she was remembered by Chick Evans from his early days as a caddy:

"I caddied very often for Miss Marion Warren, daughter of W. S. Warren. She had a fine, free swing and played a good iron shot, but she was a poor putter. I thought at one time that she was going to be a great golfer. She was an athletic girl and I am sure that if she had studied the game more she would have made one of the country's finest women players. She is now Mrs. Sanger Steel and lives at Hartsdale, N. Y." [ Chick Evans' Golf Book (1921), p. 79 ]

She married Sanger Bright Steel (1889-1927) on 11 June 1914 in Chicago; the couple lived at 1018 North State Street. In 1917, after the birth of one son, her husband took employment with a Wall Street bond firm, and the family moved to Hartsdale and then Scarsdale, New York. Marion and Sanger had three children: William Warren Steel (1916-2017), Sanger Bright Steel (1919-1983), and Munro Hubbard Steel (1923-1979).

In December 1924 she contracted typhoid fever; this illness, affecting at least six Scarsdale residents, was attributed to the consumption of raw oysters. After three weeks, she died on 29 December 1924, the day after her 38th birthday. She was buried in the churchyard of St. James the Less, Scarsdale.


The marriage of Miss Marion Parsons Warren, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Seymour Warren of 50 Cedar street, to Sanger Bright Steel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sanger Steel of the Lessing, took place yesterday afternoon at 4:30 at St. Peter's church. Bishop [Charles P.] Anderson, assisted by the Rev. William Carson Shaw, officiated. The bride was attended by Miss Ruth S. Archbald as maid of honor and Mrs. Alden K. Morgan as matron of honor. Miss Harriet Steel, sister of the bridegroom, and Miss Charlotte V. Peirce of Evanston were bridesmaids. William F. Williams of Omaha served as best man and the ushers were Robert Whiting, John F. White, L. Parsons Warren, Perry D. Smith, Clifford Wright of Cincinnati, and Montgomery H. Lewis of Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Steel will be at home at 1018 North State street after Oct. 1.

[ Chicago Tribune, 12 June 1914 ]


Are Touring Europe

The following item of local interest appears in the social columns of the Chicago morning papers:

"Mr. and Mrs. Sanger [Bright] Steel, of the Lessing Annex, who are making a tour of Europe, have arrived in Paris and are at the Hotel Dysart."

Mr. Steel is a former Joliet boy, having first opened his eyes upon the light of day on the corner of Eastern avenue and Marion street, and his father before him was Sanger Steel. His mother is a singer widely renowned and was Miss Oledine Demmond before marriage and is a sister of Mrs. T. E. Culbertson,, of Union street.

Young Mr. and Mrs. Sanger Steel are on their honeymoon trip, their wedding having taken place in Chicago on the eleventh day of June, when they sailed immediately for Europe on the Lacland [SS Lapland].

They will make the home trip on the Vaterland, sailing August 23rd.

[ The Joliet News, 30 July 1914 ]


Mrs. Sanger Steel Dies of Typhoid Fever After Three Weeks' Illness

Had lived in Greenacres Since 1915 and Was Prominent in Club and Church Work; Funeral Services at St. James the Less; Leaves Three Children, Youngest One Year Old

Marion Warren Steel, wife of Sanger Bright Steel of 94 Walworth avenue, Greenacres, died Monday morning at White Plains Hospital. She had been ill of typhoid fever for three weeks and was thought to be on the road to recovery when death came suddenly.

Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon in the Church of St. James the Less, the Rev. Alan R. Chalmers, rector, and Rev. George Smyth of the Hitchcock Memorial Church, officiating. Interment was in the churchyard of St. James the Less. Mrs. Sanger Steel, mother of Mr. Steel, and Mr Smyth, had charge of the funeral arrangements, and Mrs. Harold Bennett, assisted by other friends of the late Mrs. Steel, was in charge of the flowers at the church.

Marion Warren Steel was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William S. Warren of Chicago. She graduated from the Girls' Latin School [recte: University School for Girls], Chicago, and spent two years at Bryn Mawr, after which she devoted her time to church work and girls' clubs in Chicago.

She was prominent in the golf world and won the near western championship a few years ago.

She married in 1914 Sanger B. Steel, bond broker and vice-president of J. G. White & Co., of 33 Wall street, New York city. She moved to Greenacres in June, 1915, and was active as a member of the parish of St. James the Less, the Woman's Guild of the Hitchcock Memorial Church, the Scarsdale Golf Club and the Scarsdale Woman's Club.

She leaves three children, William Warren, eight years old; Sanger Bright, Jr., five years old, and Monroe Hubbard, one year and two months. She had one brother, Parsons Warren, who attended Williams College and is married and lives in Chicago.

[ Scarsdale Inquirer, 3 January 1925 ]


Mrs. Sanger B. Steel

To have become beloved by a community as had Mrs. Sanger B. Steel in the few short years of her residence here, is proof of her exceptional character. She made dear friends wherever she went by the kindly interest she took in all those with whom she came in contact. She was active in the Scarsdale Woman's Club. the Scarsdale Golf Club and in her church, St James the Less. Before her marriage, she became well known in the Middle West as a brilliant golfer, and in spite of her other activities she was always one of the finest woman players in this vicinity. It was her pleasure to encourage beginners, and her sportsmanship was of the highest type. Indeed it was this sportsmanship which permeated every relationship of her life. We are better for having worked with her and having played with her. We share with her family a great loss. MARY S. HOGG.

[ Scarsdale Inquirer, 3 January 1925 ]

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