Located in an area known as Crocker Grove featuring some of largest and oldest Monterey Cypress trees in existence, this plaque is set in a boulder and reads:
"Marshall Steel, Jr.
President
Del Monte Forest Foundation
1981-1988
In recognition of his dedication to
the Foundation and commitment to the
protection of the Del Monte Forest.
May his example serve as a
challenge to those who follow."
This magazine article (
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"Marshall Steel Jr., a philanthropist who was well-known in the East Bay and Monterey Bay areas, died June 21 at Community Hospital in Monterey after a prolonged illness. He was 81.
Mr. Steel was the scion of a pioneering West Coast family. His paternal grandfather arrived in Portland, Ore., in 1851, and became the first bank commissioner of the Territory of Oregon. His maternal grandfather immigrated from Germany -- crossing the Atlantic in a sailing ship.
Born in Berkeley, Mr. Steel graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1937 and then traveled extensively in Europe. After returning to California, he joined the family dry cleaning and laundry business, the Marshall Steel Company, founded by his father in 1904. He managed the company for 25 years until its sale.
In honor of his father, Mr. Steel founded the Marshall Steel Sr. Foundation. It has made charitable donations for the past 40 years.
Mr. Steel served as a director on the board of Samuel Merritt Hospital, later renamed the Summit Medical Center in Oakland. He was also a member of the Oakland Rotary and Orinda Country Club.
At the time of his death, he was also an honorary trustee of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
He moved to Pebble Beach in 1973 and served as a governor of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and as a director of the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation. For many years he also served as president of the Del Monte Forest Foundation in Pebble Beach."