- S
As most of you know, in August of 2019, my brother-in-law Tom Steele was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). After a month of treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he, and his wife Stephanie (my twin sister) were told that his cancer wasn’t responding to the normal treatment regimen. From the beginning, Tom knew battling cancer was not going to be easy and he wasn’t a “typical” cancer patient, yet he selflessly pushed forward and tried many different treatments, all for his family. His cancer journey included some forward progress (he first reached remission January 2020) and many setbacks (he had relapsed by February 2020), but he successfully made it to a Stem Cell Transplant in June of 2020.
Despite the almost daily doctor appointments, Tom continued to make memories with his family through movie nights, walks around the block, and time together boating on the river. Unfortunately, Tom relapsed in August of 2020 and battled Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) of the stomach as well as the cancer. He was a participant in a CAR-T trial at the University of Pennsylvania, but the cancer took over before he could begin that trial, soon after the year 2021 began. Tom fought the good fight for 17 months for Stephanie, Noah, and the rest of his family. Through his cancer journey Tom remained strong in his faith. On January 8th, 2021 around 9:30pm, Tom passed peacefully from his wife’s loving arms into the arms of our loving Savior and Lord.
During Tom’s 32 short years on earth, he helped and impacted so many people through sharing his faith, cheering up others with his humor and by volunteering his time. Tom loved integrating technology into education and shared that love through many avenues, including being the Director of IT at Saint Joseph’s Parish, teaching at YTI, and finally landing his dream job of being an IT Director at a public school.
As Stephanie and Noah grieve in the coming months, anyone seeking to offer their financial assistance can contribute to this fund to help them with funeral and medical expenses, setting up a college fund for Noah and helping them make the transition into life without their beloved husband and father.
Despite the almost daily doctor appointments, Tom continued to make memories with his family through movie nights, walks around the block, and time together boating on the river. Unfortunately, Tom relapsed in August of 2020 and battled Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) of the stomach as well as the cancer. He was a participant in a CAR-T trial at the University of Pennsylvania, but the cancer took over before he could begin that trial, soon after the year 2021 began. Tom fought the good fight for 17 months for Stephanie, Noah, and the rest of his family. Through his cancer journey Tom remained strong in his faith. On January 8th, 2021 around 9:30pm, Tom passed peacefully from his wife’s loving arms into the arms of our loving Savior and Lord.
During Tom’s 32 short years on earth, he helped and impacted so many people through sharing his faith, cheering up others with his humor and by volunteering his time. Tom loved integrating technology into education and shared that love through many avenues, including being the Director of IT at Saint Joseph’s Parish, teaching at YTI, and finally landing his dream job of being an IT Director at a public school.
As Stephanie and Noah grieve in the coming months, anyone seeking to offer their financial assistance can contribute to this fund to help them with funeral and medical expenses, setting up a college fund for Noah and helping them make the transition into life without their beloved husband and father.
Organizer and beneficiary
Stephanie Steele
Beneficiary