Harold A. Steen, loving husband of the late Florence (Hahn) Steen passed away on January 16, 2026. He was born on April 25, 1929 and spent his formative years in Iowa. Harold graduated from Iowa State University in December 1951 with a BS in General Engineering and married Florence on December 29, 1951. He served on Navy aircraft carriers from 1951 to 1954 during the Korean War and was awarded the UN Medal and the Korean Service Medal with one star. Harold was employed by AT&T from 1955 to 1991, primarily in the field of telephone regulation.
Harold enjoyed singing in choirs as well as running. In fact, he attributed living to the age of 96 to running 6 miles a day, 5 days a week for 40 years. Harold’s true passion was gardening. He was a master gardener whose specialization was the daylily. In the mid-1990’s, Harold started the Daylily Society of Southeast Wisconsin. The group is still going strong with over 150 members. At one time, his personal garden had over 250 different daylily species. Daylily hybridizers, Phil and Luella Korth, named one of their daylily species Hemerocallis ‘Harold Steen' in 2013. It is a breathtaking plant and is still available for sale through Pinewood Gardens.
Harold is survived by his daughter Susan (Tom) Oberhauser, his 3 grandchildren, their spouses and 3 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister JoAnn (John) Wilson, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as well as Harold’s friend Sue Pedersen. Harold was preceded in death by his parents Andrew and Edna Steen, his sister Arleen Steen and his brother Dale (Phyllis) Steen.
Memorial will be Saturday February 21, 2026, 1-4 with a service at 2:30pm, all at DeFiore Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 10763 Dundee Road, Huntley, Il. 60142 For information please call 847-515-8772
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I’m so sorry for your loss. I adored Harold, and enjoyed all the time I spent with him. I will miss our visits. Danny and I send our sincere condolences.
Very sorry for your loss, it’s a big loss. Harold was a person to be admired, very wise and my best friend and confidant while running and solving the World’s problems while we did it, times twelve fantastic years, day after day!! We were each others’ biggest fans. Love and prayers.