Donna Steichen (6/26/1929 - 10/21/2026)

“A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

Mrs. Donna Steichen, mother of Laura Berquist, entered into her eternal rest on October 21st, 2026 at the age of 97. She passed away peacefully in her home in the late afternoon. 

Mrs. Steichen, a well-known author and journalist, was born in Minnesota in 1929 and raised her four children alongside her husband LeRoy. In her later home of Southern California, Mr. and Mrs. Steichen watched their many descendants grow, and contributed to the founding of Mother of Divine Grace School and Thomas Aquinas College. 

“My mother has been my role model,” says Laura. “She has ordered her life to the truth for as long as I have known her. In everything she does, she speaks the truth with clarity and humor.”

Mrs. Steichen wrote extensively throughout her lifetime, publishing three books through Ignatius Press: Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism (1991), Prodigal Daughters: Catholic Women Come Home to the Church (1998), and Chosen: How Christ Sent Twenty-Three Surprised Converts to Replant His Vineyard (2009). She was a regular contributor to many publications including Crisis Magazine and Touchstone Magazine, and had many domestic and international speaking engagements with parishes, colleges, seminaries, and other organizations. She even had a television show on a local station in the Steichens’ area. 

“That ability to be objective, to step back and see the situation from the outside, is a gift,” says Laura, “and my mom has used that gift to serve God.”

Mr. and Mrs. Steichen sent Laura to TAC to be part of the first graduating class, a brave leap of faith in a college that was brand new and had not yet stood the test of time. This dedication to God and the service of the truth also was evident in Mrs. Steichen’s deep support of homeschooling and of Mother of Divine Grace School. 

“When the idea of homeschooling was first presented to me twenty-five years ago, it sounded like a manifestation of romantic counterculturalism, admirable in its daring but probably imprudent and certainly illegal,” wrote Mrs. Steichen in her introduction to Laura’s Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. “As the disintegration of American society proceeded, parental pressure forced its legalization, and I came to see that it was absolutely essential that Christians become countercultural. Homeschooling then seemed to be an important defense against the growing evils in the world. What I did not understand until I saw its fruits in the lives of my own grandchildren was that it is a superior kind of education, so compatible with the healthy formation of the child’s character and intellect, so reinforcing of virtue, and fostering such respect between parents and children, that I conclude it must be what God has always intended.”

Mrs. Steichen joined Laura for one of the inaugural episodes of MODG’s Light of the Faith series, a webinar series dedicated to providing ongoing Catholic and classical formation for families. She discusses the role of women in today’s world, and addresses many of the topics that she wrote about in her first book, Ungodly Rage.

“Mom never cared at all what people thought about what she said as long as it was true and of service to the truth,” says Laura. “She was fearless in the service of the truth.”

This dedication to the truth can be seen throughout all of Mrs. Steichen’s numerous writings, as well as through her constant witness to the prolife movement from the very beginning. More than forty years ago, she wrote a piece for Crisis Magazine outlining the true core issues of the prolife movement. Reading this article provides a glimpse into the clarity of thought Mrs. Steichen possessed, as well as her wit and candor (“Indeed, if all the American Catholics who have heard a sermon against contraception in the past ten years came and stood in my flowerbed, they would pose little danger to the geraniums.”). 

Mrs. Donna Steichen was predeceased by her husband of 71 years, LeRoy Steichen, and leaves behind four children, as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She once wrote, in her introduction to Laura’s Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, that “what men and women seek is not a life of easy luxury but a lifework deserving the expenditure of all their gifts.” Those who were blessed to know her also knew that Mrs. Steichen truly devoted her life to the expenditure of her many gifts. 

“My mom reminds me of the valiant woman of Proverbs,” Laura says. “A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.”

Information about the Funeral Mass will be forthcoming.