Catherine Steele
Janet Catherine Steele was born on April 30, 1930 in Grand Bank, NL. Her parents were Captain Arch Thornhill and Ruth (Williams) Thornhill.
After graduating from Mount Allison University, Catherine taught music at Prince of Wales Collegiate, St. John’s, NL which she loved.
Shortly after her marriage to Harry, he was posted to a specialized Royal Navy training school in the naval port of Portsmouth, England, specializing in communications.
On their return to Canada, they were posted to Halifax/Dartmouth, NS. It was here, while starting and raising her young family, Catherine‘s enthusiasm for business was ignited and cultivated through the purchase, renovation, and selling of homes bought through foreclosure.
With her success and entrepreneurial spirit thriving, Catherine continued her quest to locate similar homes to renovate following their posting to Gander. With no residential homes available, she learned of the Albatross Motel’s availability, through bankruptcy, which presented a new challenge for Catherine. With her natural people skills, and after learning the hotel business, the Albatross , in time, became another success story. With her husband‘s retirement from military life, in 1974, Catherine‘s love and success in business became the catalyst for a family business career. With equal enthusiasm, the business grew. Over subsequent years, the Steele family acquired and incorporated Sinbad’s Limited, Irving West, Limited and Hotel Gander Limited, which continue today.
John Steele
John Steele is the CEO of Steele Hotels, CEO of Long Play Capital Corporation, President of Brigus Production Company Inc. and part-owner of SPS Entertainment (NL Regiment Hockey Club). He began his career with the company in 1991 and has since overseen the operation of Steele Hotels’ seven locations across Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as an additional location in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Under his leadership, Brigus Production Company Inc. produces the renowned Iceberg Alley Performance Tent in St. John’s, NL.
Previously, Mr. Steele worked with Newfoundland Capital Corporation Limited and its subsidiary, Newcap Inc., from March 1988 to October 2018, holding various positions, including President of its Newfoundland and Labrador operations, until the company was sold in 2018.
His contributions have been widely recognized. In 2018, the Iceberg Alley Performance Tent was awarded Best Event of the Year by the City of St. John’s, and in 2022, it was a finalist for an Atlantic Excellence Award in the Event of the Year category with a budget under $500,000. Mr. Steele is a past Board member of the 2025 Canada Games Revenue Generation Committee. He has also served on the “In This Together” Capital Campaign Committee of the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation, as a Board member of Newfoundland Capital Corporation and Stingray, and as President of the Board of Directors of the VOCM Cares Foundation.
In addition to those accomplishments, in 2018, Mr. Steele was honoured as Humanitarian of the Year by the Canadian Red Cross.