Philip Steiner

Lt. Colonel Philip Steiner was born in Elmhurst, New York, on December 7th, 1920. In 1938, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Navy, and while serving on the Wyoming took a competency exam, and was the only man selected for appointment to the Naval Academy where he received his B.S. in Engineering in 1943. Philip graduated one year early to enter the Navy as an Ensign assigned to the USS Sigourney as a gunnery officer. He married June Maschmeyer on August 16, 1943 prior to shipping out for the South Pacific theatre. During the remainder of World War II, he served aboard destroyers in the Pacific and was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with nine stars, the Navy Occupation Service Medal with Europe Clasp for his service on the USS Cone, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal. In 1950 he was recalled to active duty with the Air Force and served as armament test engineer with the USAF Research and Development Command until 1952. He then attended Ohio State University for graduate training and received his Masters in Industrial Engineering in early 1954. From 1954 to 1958 he was responsible for the procurement and production of all USAF aircraft guns, small rockets as well as the fire control systems for the B-47, B-52, and B-66 aircraft. From 1958 to 1960 he was assigned to the Thor and Jupiter IRBM programs as Chief of the European Field Office with responsibility for the overseas installation and check-out of the missile. He was then assigned to the Space Systems Division in Los Angeles and worked on many major USAF and NASA Satellite programs including Discoverer, Midas, Samos, and Ranger. In 1963 he was assigned to the European Office of Aerospace Research in Brussels, Belgium as the Director of Procurement where he secured over 500 contracts in 24 countries. Later he was assigned to the Pentagon to help develop and procure "smart bombs," laser and radar guided bombs, for use in Vietnam, and was awarded the Organization Excellence Award and the Legion of Merit. He retired as a Lt. Colonel and accepted a position with Boeing in Seattle Washington as the Air Force Plant representative and oversaw the development of USAF weapons systems. Philip is preceded in death by his son, Karl, and is survived by his beloved wife, June, his daughters Leslie and Lynn, and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. He will be remembered as a man of excellent character and integrity with a high degree of thoroughness and reliability. His love of God, family, and country is unquestioned. His life represents the oath he swore when he entered the US Naval Academy, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Philip will be greatly missed and greatly honored. There will be a viewing at the Pampus LDS Chapel, Friday, June 8th from 9-10am followed by a graveside service at the Salt Lake City Cemetery from 11am-12pm. Special thanks to The Good Shepard Hospice and the Sunrise Residential. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the LDS Perpetual Education Fund www.lds.org/pef.