George Steed; Built Churches in Southland
George V. Steed, son of a circuit-riding Methodist minister who grew up to form a construction firm that built about 140 churches and religious structures in Southern California, is dead at the age of 91.
Born in Canada as the youngest child of a clergyman who ministered to outlying farm families near Winnipeg, Steed’s family moved at the turn of the century to San Pedro, where his father established a Methodist church. Young Steed graduated from Manual Arts High School in 1916 and attended UC Davis while working as a cowboy on a large ranch in Mendocino County.
With a brother and uncle he founded the construction firm of Steed Brothers in 1922. Based in Alhambra, the firm came to be known as “the church builders” because of its ties to religious construction. They also built hospitals, including Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Alhambra Community Hospital and the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange Country, and several public buildings.
His charities came to include Goodwill Industries, which he served as a director for many years and as president from 1961 through 1966.
Steed died April 5 at a convalescent hospital in Irvine.
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