Catherine M. “Scuffy” Steele of Matamoras, Pa., a lifetime resident of the area, died Saturday, April 12, 2025, at home, with her family by her side. She was 88.
She was born Feb. 3, 1937, in Port Jervis, N.Y., the daughter of Irving J. Ryker and Catherine L. Davis Ryker.
Catherine married Richard K. Steele on July 11, 1954, in Matamoras, Pa., and they were married for 52 years prior to his passing on April 4, 2006.
Catherine graduated from Port Jervis High School in 1954, and 70 years later, still talked about her class and their reunions with the glee of a schoolkid.
Besides family, her friends and community were her pride. She was an active member of local government and community organizations, known for her many roles and wearing many hats.
Until recently, Catherine still had boys, now men, telling her they remember her as their Den Leader for Pack 77, where she served for 12 years.
She was best known as Pike County Auditor and Pike County Jury Commissioner. She was also Registrar of Vital Records, as appointed by the Governor’s Office in 1988.
Catherine was a proud voter for 60 years, as well as a member of the Pike County Democratic Committee, where she was elected Vice Chairwoman and Secretary in 1968. She was also the Chairwoman of the Matamoras Democratic Committee and a member and secretary of the Pike County Women’s Democratic Club.
Scuffy was a bookkeeper for Hawk’s Nest Mechanical, where she honed the skills that eventually led her to her election as Pike County Auditor, as well as being a member of the Pennsylvania Association of County Auditors.
She was a member and past President of the Matamoras Recreation Committee. She was appointed by the Matamoras Borough Council on the Matamoras Board of Directors for Airport Park.
A sportswoman, Scuffy started the first Girls Softball League in Matamoras in 1966.
She was associated with the Ladies Auxiliary of the Matamoras Fire Dept. where she served as President and Treasurer. She was a former member of the Keystone Community Club and was a dispatcher for Matamoras Police Department. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star Chapter 494, Red Hat Society, served on the Pike County Area of the Aging board and was active with the Matamoras Recreation Dept.
But whatever title you knew her by, you probably still called her Scuffy. Catherine’s childhood nickname not only stuck her entire life, but quite literally followed her around town on the back of her car. She’d say she couldn’t get away with much with that license plate, and laugh.
Catherine loved to laugh and loved a good joke. She loved her Mets and old black and white movies. She loved watching the birds at the feeder, the chipmunks on the lawn and feeding the groundhog carrots. She loved to read and she loved a sweet treat. She loved yard sales and embellishing a handwritten card with a sticker.
She loved watching the Fireman’s Day Parade from her sister Judy’s porch on Ball Street with family and friends. Her door was always open, and her heart was, too.
To be known by Catherine was to know she would always have something nice to say about you, or a funny story to tell. So often, finished by the endearing line, “And I laughed!”
Today, those of us who are left here without her are comforted by the memory of her laugh and the joy of the stories we shared. Catherine is survived by:
Daughter Judilyn Misczuk of West Hartford, Conn.; sons Keith Steele and his wife, Nancy Schneider Steele, of Port Jervis, N.Y.; Rick Steele of Milford; and Steven Steele of Cuddebackville, N.Y.; sister Judith “Judy” Gray of Port Jervis, N.Y.; nine grandchildren: Michelle Holler, Michael Steele, Keith Steele, Patricia Steele, June Steele, Christina Steele, Catherine Misczuk, William Misczuk and Michael John Misczuk.
Catherine was also survived by 10 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her son Christopher “40” Steele; son-in-law Thomas Misczuk; daughter-in-law Eileen Kelly Steele; grandson Peter Misczuk; grandson Steven “Weaver” Steele; granddaughter Sarah Beth Steele; brother Milton “Billy” Ryker; sister Ann Conklin, brother-in-law R. William “Billy” Gray and good friend Edna Polis.
A funeral service and visitation were held April 17 at the Gray-Parker Funeral Home, Inc., 100 East Main St., Port Jervis.
Burial of cremains will be in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Matamoras, Pa.
Memorial contributions may be made to Humane Society Of Port Jervis/Deerpark, Inc., 202 Route 209, Port Jervis, N.Y. 12771 or Pike County Humane Society, 189 Lee Road, Shohola, Pa. 18458
Arrangements by the Gray-Parker Funeral Home, Inc. (845 856-5191 or www.grayparkerfuneralhome.com).