Kitty Steele arrived at Guilford in the late 1950s to teach Physical Education. By the time she departed about 20 years later, she had made a lasting imprint on intercollegiate athletics for women at the College.

In the early 1970s, as sports for women evolved from playdays and extramurals to intercollegiate competitions, Kitty was tapped to be the first coach of Guilford’s field hockey, volleyball, basketball and tennis teams. She even coached men’s golf one season.

Kitty died Dec. 11 in Greensboro at the age of 97. The family plans a memorial service Friday, Jan. 9, at 2 pm at Friendly Hills Church, 1450 Guilford College Rd. in Jamestown. She was the widow of Jerry Steele, who coached men’s basketball at the College from 1962-70 and died in 2021 at 82.

A graduate of Woman’s College (now UNCG), she was a pioneer in women’s intercollegiate athletics at the College along with Gwen Reddeck and Joyce Clark, who predeceased her in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

“Kitty was the mother of women’s intercollegiate athletics at Guilford,” says Elwood Parker ’64, who competed for the Quakers in men’s basketball and baseball and served as a co-coach of women’s basketball with Kitty the first two seasons, 1972-73 and 1973-74.

“If you were a woman athlete in that period, Kitty was your coach,” he says. “She was this very level headed, very kind person who could work with anyone on any age level.”

Elizabeth Parker Haskins ’76, who competed in basketball, volleyball and field hockey at Guilford, remembers Kitty as a role model and a caring presence who opened up opportunities for women athletes.

“We would not have had a (basketball) team without her,” says Elizabeth, whose jersey was retired in a 2009 ceremony at Ragan-Brown Fieldhouse on campus with Kitty participating.

“Looking back, I have a profound sense of the impact because we as athletes climbed on the shoulders of Kitty and Joyce in those early days for women’s athletics,” she says.

In 1976, Kitty joined her husband, Jerry, at High Point College (now University), where she was a faculty member and coached women’s field hockey and tennis. Her tennis teams twice finished fourth in the NAIA playoffs and won 10 conference titles.

She was inducted to the Guilford College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

In 2007, High Point University dedicated the Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center, housing athletics offices, locker rooms and academic study areas.

Jerry won 150 games in eight years at Guilford, including 32 wins with a fourth-place finish in the NAIA Tournament his final season. After a year coaching in the ABA, he joined High Point, where he finished out his career.