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• 'We heard two shots from an M-16'

• Local instructors stress importance of lessons for youngsters

• 10 ways to beat the heat in Lodi

• Council wants election results before spending on WID water

• Council unanimous on need for a trim, awards conract to Trees, Inc.

• Regional Roundup

• Elk Grove board votes to support Galt fire merger

• Lodi High students show off livestock at San Joaquin Fair

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Regional Roundup

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Regional Roundup

• Group investigates reports of haunting

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (73)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (60)
• Universal health care solves big problems (54)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (35)
• Words from our forefathers (27)
• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (24)
• Majority cannot deprive the minority (24)

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Lodi's giants

George steele: Judge, city attorney, mayor

When times were challenging, as they often were in Lodi's first 40 years, the man citizens turned to as the decisive voice was George M. Steele.

A tall, distinguished man with piercing brown eyes, Steele lived in Lodi from 1903 until his death in 1942. In that time period, he served Lodi in many ways. He was a school principal, judge, attorney, councilman and mayor, spokesman and the man the public turned to for well-reasoned action and leadership in the trying times of the Great Depression and World War II.

George Martin Steele was born in Walnut Creek on April 4, 1871. As a boy, Steele saw education as the way to success. At 18, he left the east Bay Area to teach school in the sparsely settled hills west of Fresno.

Years later, Steele was fond of recalling his first adventures which included walking right into the hands of a bandit gang in the hills near Pacheco Pass and of having to lick the bullies in his first school to prove he was a good teacher. With his earnings, Steele was able to continue his own education and graduate from San Jose Normal School, according to his newspaper obituary. In the 1890s, Steele also studied law and economics at Stanford University.

Steele was teaching school in Ripon when he met Effa Dickey, a shy woman and daughter of a prosperous pioneer farmer. They were married in September 1897 and settled in Ripon. The next year, they moved to Woodbridge where Steele became a teacher and principal at Woodbridge Grammar School.

In 1903, Steele was named principal of Lodi Grammar School, also known as Salem School. Meanwhile, Steele continued to study law in his Lodi home at night. In 1904, he passed the state bar examination and became a fully qualified attorney.

In 1905, Steele was appointed Justice of the Peace of the Elkhorn Township that governed the pioneer town of Lodi. That year an old law was revived which allowed constables and judges to earn their salaries based on fines collected from criminals. Justice of the Peace Arthur E. Percival did not agree with this system, so he resigned. County supervisors then appointed Steele to the judge's bench. Steele served on the bench until 1916. Though he was a judge for a limited time, he was known as "Judge" Steele for the rest of his life. The title fit the reverence Lodi felt for him.

While serving as a judge, he continued his private law practice from a Pine Street office and participated in many notable legal highlights of early Lodi.

In 1906, Steele drafted the papers of incorporation for Lodi. In early 1907, he was appointed city recorder, a position he held for only a few months. In 1911, Steele served as one of two attorneys who unsuccessfully defended Lodi Sentinel publisher Sam Axtell who shot and killed another businessman in broad daylight.

On April 1, 1916, Steele was appointed city attorney. He represented the city in legal matters for seven years until he resigned on April 23, 1923.

At age 59, Steele began his long service on the city council with his election on April 21, 1930. His fellow councilmen selected him to be mayor on April 14, 1932. He served as mayor for 10 years, the longest tenure in city history. During that time, he spoke at countless functions, dedicated new buildings and parks, led economic recovery efforts locally, pushed for construction of Lodi stadium and stood ready to protect the home front.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, frightened citizens turned to the calming, confident voice of their leader.

Steele was named chairman of the rapidly organized Lodi Defense Council. On Dec. 10, Lodi had its first test blackout. Steele issued a list of suggestions for citizens in the event of an air raid. Steele urged citizens to get candles and kerosene lanterns. He advised people to turn off gas appliances, fill the bathtub with water, keep garden hoses connected and keep the car full of gas in case Lodi was evacuated.

Within five months of the war's outbreak, Steele must have grown weary of the responsibilities. On April 21, 1942, Steele resigned as mayor and councilman.

On the night of Aug. 4, 1942, Steele attended a City Employees Association picnic at Lodi Lake. As chairman of the City Personnel Board, he gave a short speech. After he returned to his 300 West Pine Street home, he suffered a heart attack. He died at 3 a.m. the next day. He was 71.

Fourteen years later, Steele was still remembered as a vital force in Lodi's history.

In a 1956 Lodi News-Sentinel article, Art Marquardt wrote, "No meeting, no patriotic gathering was complete without George Steele being present, his mellow, beautiful voice rounding out oratorical periods about Flag and Country."

First published: Thursday, May 25, 2006