Born on July 8, 1922 in Sublette, IL, and grew up on the family farm that his great-grandfather established in 1873 in nearby Dover, IL. Harold attended the University of Illinois and was a part of ROTC. He enlisted in the army in 1942 and was inducted in June 1943, going through Field Artillery Basic Training in Ft. Sill, OK. The Army sent him back to the University of Illinois for the Army Specialized Training Program, where he received training as an engineer. He was later transferred to Ft. Benning, GA, where he attended Infantry Basic Training and Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned in the Infantry on Oct. 3, 1944 and assigned as the Platoon Leader of the 2nd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment, 89th Infantry Division. Harold served in France, Germany, and Austria and met his wife, Margery Whiteley, while stationed in Vienna. Harold returned to farming when he got back to the states. In 1970, Harold was elected as vice president of the Illinois Farm Bureau and soon became president. He served in that position for 13 years. During that time, he dealt with issues in regard to the farm credit system, the international agricultural market, trade missions to Japan, China, and Russia, and commodity groups, among many other things. Following his time with the Farm Bureau, Harold became the CEO of the Farm Credit Administration and served there for 4 years. Harold has a large collection of primitive agricultural tools, including, but not limited to, a model horse made by the Coffin Brothers Harness Company, various arrowheads, a reaper that is over 100 years old and still functioning, a groundhog threshing machine, a maple burl specimen (as well as products made from maple burl), many one-of-a-kind farm tools, a stone flour mill, 1933 F-12 harvester, an LP tractor from 1952, a few John Deere tractors, a Roger Piper Speedigger (made in Princeton, IL), and a hay loader. Most of this equipment is still in working order today.
From the description of An interview with Harold Steele / Harold Steele ; Don Shandrow, interviewer. 2008. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 291098262
