LYNN — World War II veteran Milton I. Steller celebrated his 95th birthday Saturday with a now-popular COVID-style birthday parade, consisting of friends and family.
Mayor Thomas M. McGee and Sen. Brendan Crighton were in attendance as well, and presented Steller with official citations to honor and thank him for his service as a Merchant Marine and as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I’m very happy to be here and to recognize his service. This is important to celebrate his 95th birthday,” said McGee. “It’s obviously different times, but having the parade and having his family here is great.”
Steller, known to his friends and family as “Milty,” joined the Merchant Marines in 1945, right after high school, and was stationed in New York as a ship cadet, training on steam engine operations and mechanics.
Born in Baltimore, Steller met his wife Betty (Schwartz) Steller, while traveling to the North Shore to visit his cousin. He wrote Betty while he was serving the country, eventually marrying her in 1951. The duo moved to Lynn and raised three children in the same home in which Steller still resides.
Steller was first deployed to San Francisco to work on the Alamo Victory ship as the vessel’s Chief Engineer during World War II. His ship formed a convoy with the U.S. Navy and began unloading wartime supplies when it traveled to Okinawa. When WWII ended, Steller returned to the U.S. to continue his mariner service.
He then spent about three years operating the engine room on various vessels including the S.S. President Wilson, S.S. Greece Victory, S.S. Joplin Victory, S.S. Marine Shark, S.S. Binghamton Victory, the S.S. Hattiesburg Victory and the S.S. Allen C. Balch.
His granddaughter Corrine Steller, said that one of his many notorious at-sea stories is “swimming with horses.”
“In 1946, the maritime ship he was on was literally carrying 400 stallions aboard the vessel,” his granddaughter said. “The mission was to deliver the livestock to Poland, however when traveling through the English Channel the Captain received a radiogram that the Baltic Sea was completely frozen. The ship was then rerouted to Rotterdam, Holland, where it stayed for five weeks. All the while, the mariners tried to keep the cargo stallions alive onboard. The seamen ultimately had to wait for Russian ice-breaking ships to break down in the frozen sea for the ship to continue.” She said that her grandfather has many experiences being at sea, joking that he was born with salt water in his veins.
In 1948, Milton Steller enlisted with the U.S. Coast Guard where he traveled to Germany, France, and Brazil, making many life-long friends along the way. After retiring from the Coast Guard, he spent his life working on the engines of Mack trucks.
As friends and family assembled in front of Steller’s Lynn home Saturday morning, his son, Stewart, said that his dad had no idea any of this was going to happen.
“He came outside and the Mayor and everyone else was here,” Stewart said. “He had no clue until he walked out the front door. We told him we were taking him out to lunch for his birthday, which was on March 10.”
He said that it was very exciting to pull this off, crediting this celebration to his daughter Corinne.
“Milty” said that it was terrific to have his family surprise him with this celebration, as he has spent most of the last year in his home in caution of the pandemic.
When asked how it feels to be 95, he simply said that he feels “old and cold,” but acknowledged that he has accomplished a lot in his life. He said that it was great to just get out of bed in the morning, noting that the surprise birthday parade was a good start to his day. Corrine Steller praised her grandfather and said that he is very dedicated to his family in terms of his love and support of them.
“What I’ve learned from him is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or you’re someone who picks up someone’s trash,” she said. “As long as you’re a good and honest person, that’s what counts in life.”
She said that he has always been very involved in his family’s life, attending graduations, birthday parties and more.
City Council member Richard Colucci was also in attendance and said that he has known Steller for about 15 years, noting that he is a “great fellow.”
Last March, President Trump signed the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2020, which recognizes the service and sacrifice of the United States merchant mariner in World War II. Corinne said that this was long overdue, but she is happy to see her grandfather get the honor that he deserves.
Corinne encourages people to help her continue to honor her grandfather by sending celebratory birthday cards to the following address:
Mr. Milton I. Steller
P.O. Box 629
Swampscott, MA 01907
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected]
