MORRIS – For 35 years or so, starting in 1963, if you played sports in Morris, you wanted to hear Dick Steele say your name.

That’s because Steele was known as “The Voice of Grundy County” and if you heard him say your name, you were listening to WCSJ, and so were a great number of other folks in Morris and surrounding communities. Hearing your name come out of Steele’s mouth meant you had achieved something worth mentioning on the radio.

Richard G. “Dick” Steele “died Monday, May 22, at the age of 81 at Morris Hospital. He was surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with multiple failing conditions.

Steele was born in the town he always called home and was proud of his Morris roots. He retired from WCSJ/WJDK Radio in 1999 after leaving a legacy that this community will not soon forget.

“I started working with Dick in 1987,” said Kevin Schramm, operations director of WCSJ/WJDK Radio. “Even after he retired in 1999, he still would come in here part time and we would work together even though our roles had changed. So, in January of this year, it was 30 years that I worked with Dick. There was no one more Morris than him.

“I have read a lot of obituaries on the air, even some for my own family members. Dick’s was the toughest I have ever had to read. There are people in your life that you just don’t think will ever die, and Dick was one of those for me. He was not only my mentor and co-worker, but he was my friend.”

Current sports director at WCSJ/WJDK Mike Williams recalls the veteran Steele taking the young Williams under his wing and teaching him the lay of the land in the Morris area.

“I went to high school in West Chicago and college in DuPage County,” Williams said. “I got a job here in Morris part time in 1993. I had heard a little bit about Morris, but Dick really showed me what sports in Morris meant to the people of this town.

“What I remember most about him is his generosity. When I began working here full time in 1994, I lived an hour away. He and I would finish a football game broadcast sometimes around 11 o’clock or so and I would have to drive the hour home, get a few hours sleep and get up and drive an hour back for the 9 o’clock Saturday morning sports show. After doing that a couple times, Dick offered to let me stay at his house on Friday nights to let me get a little more rest. He certainly didn’t have to do that, but it’s something that always stuck with me when I think about him. Not only the wisdom and knowledge of local sports that he had, but the kindness as a person.”

Though he was never one to toot his own horn, Steele was recognized for his inspiring community involvement.

He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame for News Media in 1998. He also was honored and inducted in both the Illinois Department on Aging in 2008, Senior Illinoisan Hall of Fame, named to the Grundy County Senior Citizen Hall of Fame, named the 1994 and 2003 Morris Redskin Fan of the Year and in 2008-09, he received the Morris Lions Club Citizen of the Year award.

He also was a member of the Grundy County Board, a member of the Morris Township Board and a member of the Justice Assistance Board. He enjoyed announcing the Grundy County Corn Festival Parade and being Master of Ceremonies of the Old-Timers Baseball Association Banquet. He also was named 1984 Coal Valley Old Timers Baseball Club Hall of Fame inductee.

The community tribute that certainly made him smile was May 28, 1999, when the day was proclaimed “Dick Steele Day” in recognition of his many achievements and on behalf of the citizens of Morris.

Former Morris athletic director and football coach Dan Darlington spent a lot of time on and off the air with Steele, and remembers Steele’s love of his hometown.

“He was always about Morris,” Darlington said. “He grew up on the east side of town, just about a block away from me. He not only wanted the sports program at the school to flourish, but the town in general. He was wanting it to grow and be the best town it could be. He will definitely be missed. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs on his Sunday morning show.

“What will also be missed is that he had years and years of knowledge about the town and the school. Boxes and boxes of newspaper articles and books. If someone from the Joliet or Chicago newspapers would call me and ask me for any old Morris information, I would tell them they were talking to the wrong guy and give them Dick’s number.”

And, even though he was “old school,” Steele didn’t let the technological revolution get in his way.

“I remember back when home computers were the new thing,” former Morris softball coach John Mackinson said. “Dick got a computer and the Print Shop program and made up what he called ‘Dick Steele’s Hall of Fame.’ He printed me up a certificate that said I had been inducted into it and it meant as much to me as anything else. I used to have it hanging on my bulletin board in my classroom and now it’s on my wall at home.

“Dick was all about promoting the kids from Morris. I remember when we won the state title, he came and broadcast our state title game.”

Several people also mentioned Steele’s love for his wife, Joyce, who died in 2008.

“One thing about Dick was that Joyce was always by his side,” said Jack Daly, vice president of WCSJ/WJDK Radio. “A lot of people didn’t know that Joyce came to almost every game Dick covered and was right there next to him keeping stats for him or whatever else he needed.”

“The one thing I thought when I heard he passed was, ‘Now he can be with Joyce again,’” Schramm said. “That will make him happy.”

Steele is survived by three daughters, Vicki (Bob) Surman of Morris, Colleen (Mike) Frey of Riverside, California, and Julie (Randy Schmitt) Darin of Yorkville. Six grandchildren, Nick (Tonya) Vidito, Tony (Christin) Darin, Jake (Carrie) Vidito, Matt (Jade) Warren, Katie (Steve) Strang and Luke (Amanda) Vidito; seven great-grandchildren; two sisters, Dona (Russ) Greiff of Morris, and Becky Black of Bourbonnais and one brother, Chuck (Judy) Steele of Yorkville, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled in late June so all family members can be in attendance at The Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 1201 W. Route 6 at Deerpath Drive in Morris. For information, call 815-942-5040 or visit his memorial tribute at www.fredcdames.com.