Leonard Willim Steinke, known to everyone as Lennie or Len, passed away on Oct. 26, 2026 in Madera, California, at the age of 90. He was born on May 22, 1936, in Fargo, North Dakota, and lived a life full of grit, faith, sports and devotion to the people he served.
Len’s early years took him far from North Dakota. During World War II, his family moved to Oakland, California, where his father worked for Kaiser Steel, and later to Fair Oaks, where they kept a small sideline farm. There were olives to tend, chickens to feed, and a cow that Len helped his brothers milk before and after school. He attended Fair Oaks Grammar School and then San Juan High School in nearby Citrus Heights, where he became a true standout in sports. He was a star pitcher and shortstop in baseball, the guy you could count on to sink a long shot in the final seconds to break a tie in basketball, and a solid football player too.
At his father’s strong urging, Len headed to Sacramento State College, turning down baseball scouts who had their eye on him for the pros. School wasn’t quite his calling yet, so when a recruiter came along, Len joined the Air Force, a decision he later called one of the best of his life. It gave him discipline and time to figure out what he wanted. He trained in Morse Code at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi, and served as a Morse Code Intercept Operator in a mobile squadron in Bingen, Germany, high above the Rhine River. As luck would have it, Johnny Cash had served in that same squadron just before him, and the fellows still talked about their jam sessions with Cash. While in Bingen, Len was tapped to catch for the Wiesbaden AFB baseball team, which trained in Casablanca and went on to win the European championship. His scrapbook is full of front-page “Stars & Stripes” clippings about those games and his many home runs. He finished his service in San Antonio Texas and was discharged in 1959.
After the Air Force, Len worked full time and attended college full time, eventually earning his Physical Education degree from Sac State in four years, no small feat with a growing family and no GI Bill to lean on. He always dreamed of Oregon, and he got there as a PE teacher and basketball coach at the University of Oregon’s Tongue Point Job Corps facility in Astoria. When that program changed, he was hired by Philco-Ford for the Madera Employment Training Center, where he led the Family Life Program and Recreation Department, helping Native American and Alaska Native students from across the country train for good jobs. Len later joined the Madera City Parks and Recreation Department before retiring in 1996.
Len’s real passion in sports turned out to be golf with a low handicap and 5 holes-in-1. One of these was with his granddaughter Shaylyn Heitzman in Central Oregon. She said “Grandpa, I’m your Lucky Charm.” She still is. He also got to play some great courses with his buddy, Frank Guadagnolo, because he was a college professor who taught Golf Course Management. So he had an “in” with some top pros who gave them the opportunity to play throughout the West.
Len also coached Bobby Sox Softball for his daughter Susan to play and Jennie his wife was the team manager, with daughter Teresa being one of their biggest supporters. Diamonds to play in Madera were scare at that time. This gave him the impetus in his job as sports coordinator to get three more softball diamonds and a second Little League Field designed and built at Town and Country Park. Bobby Sox was good for Madera as Madera girls went on to be excellent high school and college players. One of our team members, Judy Shaubach, became an outstanding historical winning softball coach for Madera High School.
At the age of 68, Len suffered kidney failure and went on dialysis. His daughter Susan was a perfect match and donated her kidney thus giving him 22 more years of life and being here for the activities of his granddaughters Caresse and Shaylyn and finally the birth of his great granddaughter Lilli — all the loves of his life.
A devout Christian, Len carried his faith quietly and steadily throughout his life, worshiping at Trinity Lutheran Church and Ranchos Christian Missionary Church. He trusted God through every move, every setback, and every new beginning, and now rests in the eternal peace he believed in so deeply.
In addition to his parents Ellsworth and Lois Steinke, Len was preceded in death by brothers James and Gerald and by his sons-in-law Tom Heitzman and Bob Mahlum.
He is survived by his wife Jennie Steinke, of Madera, California, his daughters, Teresa Heitzman of Shaver Lake, California, and Susan Mahlum of Coquille, Oregon. He is the beloved grandfather of Caresse Heitzman and Shaylyn Heitzman and great grandfather of Lillian Bullock.
Len’s story was one of hard work, good humor, and love for the game and the people around him. He will be remembered and dearly missed by all who knew him.
A memorial service will be on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, at 1 p.m., at Jay Chapel in Madera.
His final resting place will be at the Eagle Point National Cemetery near Medford Oregon.
Remembrances in his memory may be made to St Jude’s Children Hospital or the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.