Obituary for John Edward Steinbrink
Dr. John E. Steinbrink, 81, passed away Thursday, July 27, 2023, in Edmond, Oklahoma after a long hospitalization. A private family inurnment will be at the First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.
Born in Greeley, Colorado, on January 21, 1942, to Otto and Lillian Steinbrink, John grew up in Idaho where he spent time working on a farm in the summer even though his father was a banker, and later earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Idaho in Moscow. He then went on to complete a master's degree in Education at the University of Chicago where he taught at a local high school and formed his early ideas about education. After finishing his degree at the University of Chicago, John went south to work on his PhD at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Fresh out of graduate school, he accepted a position as an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Here, he met Lennie Wofford, a high school teacher at the Norman Lab School. The two became a couple, got married, and their first son, Jack, was born in 1974. However, department politics played a part in Dr. Steinbrink deciding to leave Norman for a job at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, and the young family departed for Texas.
A second son, Logan, was born in 1977, and the Steinbrink family spent a total of 16 years living in Clear Lake City, a suburb of Houston, where both boys went to school and participated in a variety of sports, including tennis and soccer. But when an opportunity came to return to Oklahoma when a position opened at Oklahoma State University, the family jumped ship back to Oklahoma, where they would be closer to Lennie's family.
Dr. Steinbrink taught Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education at Oklahoma State University for 16 years, where he supervised student teachers and helped to train multiple generations of young teachers in North-Central Oklahoma. Lennie taught World History at Stillwater High School, and eventually Dr. Steinbrink retired in 2006.
After retirement, Dr. Steinbrink stayed active walking his dog and working with friends at First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, where he and Lennie were active members for many years.
Dr. Steinbrink's ashes will be interned at First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater with his wife of more than 30 years.
Condolences may be emailed to the family and an online obituary may be viewed by
visiting www.strodefh.com.
Born in Greeley, Colorado, on January 21, 1942, to Otto and Lillian Steinbrink, John grew up in Idaho where he spent time working on a farm in the summer even though his father was a banker, and later earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Idaho in Moscow. He then went on to complete a master's degree in Education at the University of Chicago where he taught at a local high school and formed his early ideas about education. After finishing his degree at the University of Chicago, John went south to work on his PhD at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Fresh out of graduate school, he accepted a position as an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Here, he met Lennie Wofford, a high school teacher at the Norman Lab School. The two became a couple, got married, and their first son, Jack, was born in 1974. However, department politics played a part in Dr. Steinbrink deciding to leave Norman for a job at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, and the young family departed for Texas.
A second son, Logan, was born in 1977, and the Steinbrink family spent a total of 16 years living in Clear Lake City, a suburb of Houston, where both boys went to school and participated in a variety of sports, including tennis and soccer. But when an opportunity came to return to Oklahoma when a position opened at Oklahoma State University, the family jumped ship back to Oklahoma, where they would be closer to Lennie's family.
Dr. Steinbrink taught Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education at Oklahoma State University for 16 years, where he supervised student teachers and helped to train multiple generations of young teachers in North-Central Oklahoma. Lennie taught World History at Stillwater High School, and eventually Dr. Steinbrink retired in 2006.
After retirement, Dr. Steinbrink stayed active walking his dog and working with friends at First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, where he and Lennie were active members for many years.
Dr. Steinbrink's ashes will be interned at First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater with his wife of more than 30 years.
Condolences may be emailed to the family and an online obituary may be viewed by
visiting www.strodefh.com