Winsor "Bud" Steere

Winsor Baker (“Bud”) Steere, 91, was a seven-decade resident of the Potowomut Pond area of North Kingstown with his beloved wife, Vera. They just celebrated their 65 ^th wedding anniversary on October 16, 2019. Bud was born in Washington Park in Providence on August 27, 1928 to the late Wendell and Miriam Baker Steere. He was born into a family steeped in the history and independent-mindedness of their direct ancestor, Roger Williams. At the age of 13, he began working for his father’s Broad Street gas station and General Electric dealership. Starting in 1951, Bud served honorably in the Korean War as a Sergeant and Army engineer, building MASH hospitals, bridges, and more.

After returning home from the war, Bud began the successful Tri-County Builders with two friends. Their former business is a name still known in the real estate field for high-quality craftsmanship. From the early 1950s through the later 1980s, Bud built more than 600 houses in North Kingstown and East Greenwich. After many years, the firm was dissolved and his attention turned to high-end construction projects of the greatest detail, in the Georgian style, with his eldest son. During this time, they built the first million-dollar home sold in East Greenwich.

Second to his love for his wife and his children (by far) was his farm and orchards, which he built from nothing and owned for many decades in East Greenwich. Bud had many hobbies and interests to keep an energetic and indomitable man out of trouble (for the most part). He appreciated the New England countryside, religiously attending the Fryeburg and Tunbridge Fairs in Maine and Vermont with Vera. Additionally, he avidly collected antique tools ranging back to the 17 ^th century. His collection was a true feat—an opportunity to marvel at and appreciate Yankee ingenuity and craftsmanship—a reflection of his own hard work ethic, an inspiration for excellence in his craft, and a memorial to those who came before. Vera always told him he was born 100 years too late. Although he rarely put his paddle down at auction if he saw something of great quality and integrity, he nonetheless had many friends in the field. Out of his tool collecting hobby grew a decades-long mail order and later auction business, which he and Vera worked tirelessly at until health began to fail him earlier this year.

An old Swamp Yankee if there ever was one, Bud’s quick wit, dry humor, and countless tales could keep friends and family locked in conversation for hours. A perfectly-timed quip at holiday gatherings often left his family in tears of laughter. Besides Vera, the love of his life, Bud leaves his children, Bill (JoAnn), Jacqueline (Alan Marsland), David (Paula Harding), and Pamela Steere Maloof (Robert); grandchildren, Will (Katy), Hayley Sullivan (Andrew Hayes), and Anna (Sean Moran); and great-grandchildren, Jake, Emma, and Eila. They all mourn the loss of a steadfast family patriarch. Of his four siblings, he is survived by two sisters. He will always and forever be deeply loved and missed by his family and closest friends.

Calling hours: Monday, November 11 ^th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Hill Funeral Home, 822 Main St., East Greenwich. Funeral Service: Tuesday, November 12 ^th at 11:00 am at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 118 Division St., East Greenwich. Burial with military honors will be in Glenwood Cemetery, East Greenwich.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Bud’s memory may be made to Faith Hill Farm Foundation to support the Steere Family Veterans Equine Therapy Initiative, 2056 Division Rd., E.G. 02818, or to First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 118 Division St., E.G. 02818.