First Baptist Family Mourns Loss of Friend Eddie Steele

Note: This feature story earned Nina Mastandrea second place in the "Feature Writing" category in the 2016 News, Editorial, and Photojournalism Contest by the North Carolina Press Association.

At the age of 56, Eddie Steele’s COPD left him in pain and struggling to breathe.

But in his last days, the man who spent years living alone in the woods had family by his side. He was in a place of comfort.

A few days later, Steele’s memorial service drew hundreds of members from First Baptist Church -- the community that pulled him from isolation and gave him a purpose in life.

And Eddie, in turn, gave much to the church members as well.

“He made us better Christians and better human beings,” said church member Clayton Cline.

FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS

Steele was born in 1960 in Akron, Ohio, the youngest of seven children. At some point in the 1980s, he moved to Mocksville to live with his mother, Naomi Sanders.

Steele was in his 20s at the time and was a lover of fast cars. A red 1978 Corvette was his pride and joy.

Not much is known about his life during that time, but at some point his situation took a turn for the worse.

His mother died from cancer and he was laid off from his job. He couldn’t afford a place to live anymore, and lost his beloved sports car.

He soon became homeless.

Eventually, Steele ended up in Statesville. He scoured dumpsters at fast-food restaurants. He trudged along Interstate 77 collecting trash to burn at his makeshift refuge in the woods off Davie Avenue.

His home was a mostly collapsed barn. The outside was draped with rotting support beams that pushed out in random directions. The inside was packed with dirty bags, cups, wrappers and anything else Steele found in his travels around Statesville. 

His hair and beard grew long, white and tangled. His fingernails became caked with dirt. His skin was covered in years of grime. Several layers of clothes -—including an ever-present Dallas Cowboys jacket—covered his body.

Years of little to no dental hygiene and heavy cigarette smoking caused his teeth to fall out one by one.

For a number of years, that was Steele’s life.

AN ENCOUNTER IN THE WOODS

Payton Morrison Jr., and his father, Payton Morrison Sr., members of First Baptist, initially spotted Steele in the mid-'90s in the woods near Boy Scout camp 609. Payton Sr. was a longtime scout leader at the camp.

“We could never approach him closely without him running away,” Payton Jr. said.

Steele sightings soon became a regular occurrence, Payton Jr. recalled. And each time, Steele would catch sight of the visitors and run in the opposite direction.

Over the next few months, the Morrisons continued looking for the man in the woods. They wanted to help, and left food, clothes and other items near the collapsed barn. They yelled hello when he was within earshot.

And the more Payton Sr. visited the woods, the closer he got to Steele.

On Sundays, Payton Sr. brought his Bible and read passages. “Dad was able to build a trust factor with him,” Payton Jr. said.

The relationship grew.

Payton Sr. brought Steele food and blankets. At one point, he carried in large wooden slats to help fortify the home, nailing them to the roof to help keep Steele warm. 

The patch job worked for a time, but soon it was time for something better.

Payton Sr. assembled a team of scouts and their dads, friends and family to build a small house for Steele. Steele had one demand -- they needed to keep it close to his old quarters.

When finished, the home looked like a common 10-by-12-foot backyard tool shed. Inside, they installed electricity, and provided a TV, radio and bed.

Steele lived in the small house for two years before he began receiving medical attention. With the help of medication, he was soon ready to leave the woods.

FINDING A NEW HOME

The Morrisons painted the First Baptist Church basement walls a soothing blue and outfitted a bathroom close by for Steele to use.

He lived in the church building for about a year in the mid-2000s, but when the insurance company caught wind of it, they told the group that it was a liability.

So with the help of some church members, Payton Sr. rented Steele an apartment on nearby Stockton Street.

It was 2006.

Steele became a fixture at First Baptist. He was given a fistful of keys that unlocked every door in the church.

“He felt so important with those keys,” said Dawn Morrison, Payton Morrison Jr.'s wife. He memorized which key went to what door, and usually kept the ring hanging from belt loop.

Each day, Steele strolled through the halls, pausing to chat with church workers and often snagging the candy sitting on their desks.

Kayley Crouch, First Baptist Church communications coordinator, would sometimes tell Steele to move on, or hide the candy because he would try and eat it all, she said.

On Wednesday nights, Steele worked in the church’s kitchen. He also had duties in the food pantry.

Steele had an eye for detail, and was dedicated to make sure any job he did was perfect, said church member Buzz Holshouser. 

“You could move a single chair a millimeter or two out of place, and Eddie would notice almost instantly,” Holshouser said.

When he wasn’t working at the church, Steele was on the road riding his bike.

As time went on, however, his increasing lung issues made it harder for him to breathe and move around.

So Holshouser came up with a solution.

Within a day’s time, he raised enough money to buy Steele a new moped.

“I took him to the dealer and let him pick out whichever one he wanted,” Buzz said.

Steele rode the black, white and red moped all over town, his oxygen tank strapped over his shoulders, Buzz said.

For the members of the church and those who knew him, it only felt like a few days ago that Steele was smiling, gazing toward his shiny new moped.

The gesture wasn’t lost on Steele. In response to his new ride, he later said to church member Clayton Cline: “I have a big family, don’t I?”

A CONTINUING HEALTH DECLINE

Steele also began working toward his GED at Mitchell Community College. He dedicated every Monday and Tuesday night to his studies.

“He was truly excited about getting his GED, and really tried hard to do the best he could at it,” Holshouser said.

As Steele closed in on the GED, his health continued to decline. The COPD left him in pain just from breathing. He began to suffer from chronic lung infections and had multiple bouts with pneumonia.

In March 2016, Steele went into respiratory distress and was hospitalized.

From there, Steele spent time in nursing and assisted living centers until his mental and physical health declined so rapidly that he was admitted back into the hospital on May 25.

His final home became the Gordon Hospice House in Statesville.

There, church members held vigil by his bedside, reading Bible verses and trying to comfort him.

An exhausted Steele, unable to breathe and in tremendous pain, died June 18.

He never finished his degree.

SAYING GOODBYE

First Baptist Church held a memorial service for Steele on June 26. Dawn Morrison recalled that the pews were filled more than any Christmas or Easter service that she could remember.

Friends, family and even local business owners came together to say their goodbyes.

The 56-year-old had gone from an enigmatic, isolated woods dweller to a man who counted hundreds of Statesville residents as family.

“He was a gentle soul -- a kind soul -- so well loved by people that met him and knew him,” Dawn Morrison said.

Steele "was a reminder of what church could and should be,” said First Baptist Pastor Nelson Granade, who officiated the memorial service. 

At the end of his memorial speech for Steele, Granade read appropriate passages from the Book of Matthew, chapter 25 verses 35 and 36.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”