Christine Steele:
CLASS OF 1967
South Gate High SchoolClass of 1967
South gate, CA
Christine's Story
Life
I have a son, Jason, who received his Masters of Divinity from Talbot and is a pastor in Westfield, Mass. He is married to an attorney. They have two daughters-- Cassandra 12 and Mikayla 9.
My daughter, Sarah, was Director of Annual Giving for Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Sarah's husband works for a major computer software company. They have two boys -- Ethan 4 and Zach 1.
I was married for 33 years and divorced in 2002. I met Scott at UCLA where he played football. We raised our children in Santa Barbara. I went to college for two years, had the children and then returned to graduate from UC Santa Barbara. I worked in public relations and fundraising. I later returned to Pepperdine University College of Law, from which I received a juris doctorate, specializing in nonprofit law and governance. I presently have my own consulting business. I live in Orange County now. I lived in Santa Barbara for almost 30 years and loved it jobs were impossible to find there in the last recession and we had a son at USC and a daughter who just started Georgetown University. We needed to make a practical decision.
I hope my friends will remember me as kind and sincere, and that I stood up for my beliefs. The one person from the past who I'd most like to see again is Nancy Stivers, because she was a good friend and I wish I could talk to her again...
The wildest thing I ever did in high school was to be the ram mascot. Sad that it is the wildest thing, I know, but I was too shy to get up in front of the crowd unless no one knew who I was. The other wildest thing was to let that alcoholic female vice principal in high school fix a ticket for me when I had been driving her to meetings.
My first car was a gift from my brother, Jerr...Expand for more
y, who was/is 12 years older than I. On my 16th birthday he gave me a '57 T Bird Convertible, Powder Blue. Boys used to ask me out and then say we needed to use my car. I would say, "...then I have to drive". At that point, the date often did not happen. I had that car in college at UCLA until I got married, at that point I gave it to my younger brother Craig. He was in high school then and he needed a car.
My best friend would tell you I'm very kind, gentle annd compassionate. I can be very funny and verbally quick, but people who don't know me very well would probably describe me as quiet or aloof.
My biggest trophy is my Juris Doctorate degree. I received it at 43 years old and I worked hard for it! I drove from Santa Barbara to Pepperdine in Malibu everyday and studied like crazy with people almost half my age.I interned with the Santa Barbara DA and clerked with a firm in Ventura. It was tiring!
A South Gate childhood memory: I have 8 cousins, they and I are within 18 months of each other. We spent summers playing together at South Gate Park on the Fire Engine and the Tank. We bought snow cones at the stand. I remember the bees swarming on the ground and my cousins getting their feet stung at that stand. I also remember years of swimming lessons at the SG Park Pool.
My first job was at Sears on Long Beach Blvd., in Compton, where I got paid $3.11 an hour to be a clerk. I was only 17 but had already graduated from high school so they gave me a job, even though I wasn't 18 yet. What I remember most about it is the first day when I was lead to the two giant tables with shoes of all sorts and told to match them up.
To blow off steam or in any other situation, there is nothing like walking on the beaches north of Santa Barbara.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos