Obituary: Former Mendham Mayor Rev. William Steelman

MENDHAM, NJ — C. William (Bill) Steelman, former Mendham mayor, banking executive and reverend, died Thursday, Feb. 4, from pancreatic cancer. He was 79-years-old.

Steelman was born and raised in Basking Ridge before attending Swarthmore College and graduating in 1963, according to his obituary posted online by Bailey Funeral Home.

He went on to have a successful 32-year career in banking in New York City and retired as Executive Vice President of United States Trust Company of New York in 1995.

In 1991, Steelman was elected to a term as Mendham Borough mayor, and in the late 1990s, he served on the Nantucket Finance Committee.

After retirement, Steelman and his wife, Linda, retired to Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Three years after Steelman retired, he attended divinity school at Andover Newton Theological School, now Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School, and obtained his Masters of Divinity in 2003. He was ordained as a congregational minister and became Associate Minister at The First Congregational Church in Nantucket.

During his 15-year tenure at The First Congregational Church in Nantucket, Steelman attended Hartford Seminary, where he completed work toward a doctorate in ministry. The obituary states his studies came to an end amid a Parkinson's Disease diagnosis in 2015.

Three years later, Steelman retired from active ministry. According to his obituary, one of his proudest moments was when he presided over the first same-sex wedding performed in a Christian church in Nantucket in 2010.

Steelman is preceded in death by his son, David, and brother, Roger. He is survived by wife, Linda; step brother, Dick Pilch; sons Robert and Peter; daughters-in-law Eun-shil and Mary Elizabeth; and grand children, Vienna, Trevor, Tommy, Katie, Ellie and Gracie.

A memorial service for Steelman is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Feb. 22 at Hilltop Presbyterian Church in Mendham. A celebration of his life will be held in Nantucket this August.

In lieu of flowers, Steelman asked for donations to be made to The First Congregational Church in Nantucket or an organization of the donor's choosing.