Florence Steffen was a sweetheart with a gruf voice -- she loved reporters but she'd never let on. She loved gossip but she did her best to preserve the dignity and privacy of people whose names appeared in piles of reports in the Anne Arundel County Police Department.
Every morning reporters from the Baltimore Sun and the Annapolis Capital plowed through the robberies and the break-ins, the car accidents and the assaults, the domestics and the shootings, looking to fill blotters and briefs, and maybe, if we were lucky, find a story or two.
Florence died Saturday at the age of 79, and for 35 years with Arundel police she was the keeper of the reports, the guardian of what did and did not appear in the paper, the gatekeeper to countless spokespeople. Get on her good side and you had good copy for your editor.
She hated the fact that phone numbers appeared on police reports and the unwritten rule many years ago was that reporters didn't look at them. For us at The Sun, this was easy -- simply copy the number down and call later. Our deadlines didn't loom until evening. But pitty the Capital reporter who was on deadline, and had to go through the motions of pulling out the phone book (pre-Internet, I remind you) and pretending to find the number that was on the report.
Anne Arundel County police put out a tribue to Florence. Here it is:
THE ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT MOURNS THE LOSS OF LONGTIME SECRETARY FLORENCE STEFFEN
Secretary was a fixture in the Public Information Office for 35 Years
It is with deep regret and profound sadness that we inform you of the passing of Ms. Florence Steffen of the Anne Arundel County Police Department's Public Information Office. Florence died at her home in Glen Burnie on the evening of May 15, 2010. She was 79.
Florence was raised in West Baltimore and graduated from Western High School in 1948. She never missed a day of school in 12 years and would continue that consistency and dependability throughout her career at the police department. The majority of her life was spent living in Glen Burnie.
She joined the Anne Arundel County Police Department in August of 1975, where she enjoyed a brief stint in Central Records. It soon became apparent that her social skills would be an asset in the Public Information Office and she would go on to spend the rest of her career there as a secretary. During her career, she served as the PIO secretary and kept meticulous files for the office, which proved to be a significant historical reference through the years. Some of her everyday office duties included sorting incident reports for the department and the press, answering press inquiries and cutting out newspaper clippings about the department. Through many years of change, Florence remained the one constant in the office and her invaluable presence was profound.
She was preceded in death by her husband and is survived by her sisters, Lori and Ruth; her brother, Butch; her daughters, Carla and Shirley; her son, Walter; her eight grandchildren, five great grandchildren and numerous other relatives. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time.
"I was extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Florence Steffen," said Chief of Police Colonel James Teare, Sr. "She served the police department with excellence for more than three decades and was well respected by members of the department and the public. We extend our deepest condolences to her family during this difficult time."