Mary Eva Roque Steege

Mary Eva Reque Steege, of College Park, Maryland, passed away on Saturday, March 15th, 2025, at the age of 83. She is survived by her beloved husband, Ted Steege; loving children, John R. David and Katherine F. David; and cherished grandchildren, Alessandra Cecchetto, Lucia Cecchetto and Etienna Burden. Eva was predeceased by her dear parents, Florence and Ulrich Reque, and by her first husband of 17 years, John G. David.

Raised in Duluth, MN, young Mary Eva grew up with high expectations for community leadership – her mother an accomplished playwright and chair of the community orchestra committee, and her father a popular high school teacher of government and history. At summer camp, Eva was inspired by an evangelist who said God so passionately loved us as to give up life itself to set us free from the power of death in order to give ourselves to life in God’s new creation. In that spirit, the evangelist called upon campers to promise to serve God with their whole life on behalf of others. Eva embraced this as the opportunity of a lifetime. Her mother received this promise with skepticism, asking “What does that mean to a young woman?” At the time, Lutherans were not yet ordaining women to pastoral ministry. Nonetheless, that question transformed Eva’s outlook on life, and helped her see her story as part of a growth in faith. She would ponder how best to serve for the rest of her life.

At Carleton College, Eva pursued music, theater, and writing, earning a BA in 1964. Thereafter, she moved to New York to pursue opportunities in Opera and Theater. She worked for Lutheran World Relief, while taking and leading courses at Columbia University in English as a Second Language. Dedicated to lay service, she led music programs and choirs in various congregations including Messiah Lutheran Church of Amherst NH (a congregation she helped found), and taught piano to many aspiring young players. Finally, she went to work as Communications Officer for the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), editing a monthly newsletter reaching 29,000 homes in seven states. In that capacity, she got involved in Ecunet, an email network of networks, connecting with fellow religious communicators. There she met Ted Steege and moved to Washington, DC to marry him in 1995. They each brought two children to the marriage, and over 30 years of love, partnership and devotion have been blessed with eight grandchildren.

As the Church opened to expanded roles for women, Eva was able to fulfill her youthful commitment to serving God in a new way. She earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, and was ordained in 2005 into pastoral ministry in the ELCA. The service was held at The Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC, the congregation she had served as an administrator, as a small-group organizer, and where she had finally felt the calling she had denied for so long. She served for almost 10 years at Grace Lutheran Church in Hartford, CT, and later as an Interim Pastor at several congregations, including Our Saviour’s in East Hadley, MA; Christ the King in Great Falls, VA; Hope in Clinton, MD; and Our Redeemer in Washington, DC.

Services at the historic Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E St. SE, Washington, DC 20003, on Monday, March 24, 2025 at 11 am. Family and friends can gather to follow the funerary procession at 10 am that morning at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St. NE, Washington, D.C. 20003. Please omit flowers. Contributions in her memory may be sent to Lutheran World Relief, 700 Light St, Baltimore, MD 21230. A Celebration of Eva’s life will be held at Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 10am.