As the years passed, responsibilities increased as he gained experience. Growing to know the various captains, officers and chief engineers, Rusty realized that they looked to him for leadership. Even of greater importance - they knew they could trust him.

Eventually Rusty moved the fleet management operation to Duluth in 1979, handling the addition of the new “1,000-footers” and quietly disposing of the less-than-economic portion of the fleet. At retirement age, Rusty and his wife, Marilyn, elected to remain in their Duluth home.

In 1975 out of Cleveland, Interlake was just one of several very busy fleets, many depending on access to the same docks. Owning fleets were Hanna Mining, U.S. Steel, Cleveland Cliffs and Columbia Steamship - owner of the largest lake freighter then in operation, the big Edmund Fitzgerald.

For the whole of each shipping season, Rusty was always available, but fleet managers knew that the stormy month of November required special attention. Be it dock space for unloading, rail cars to move the cargo to the furnaces or making sure the loading docks on Lake Superior were ready for his boats, Rusty Steele tracked it all.

Heading to bed that November night, Rusty knew that at 4 a.m. Eastern time all vessels in the Interlake fleet would radio their position and other data to headquarters in Cleveland. This would be digested and printed out so it would be on Rusty’s desk in the morning. Each vessel included its estimated time of passing certain check points and its direction of travel. Barr Point, the entry to Lake Erie, was one check point. Sault Ste. Marie at the eastern end of Lake Superior and the Lake Huron Light Vessel were also checks that aided in anticipating the day’s loading and unloading needs. Once iron ore is mined, time and freight govern its value. Ore vessels count time and value carefully, and “job” exchanges to promote efficiency are sometimes necessary among vessels and fleets.

Managers of the various fleets worked together closely. With the varied delays caused by equipment problems, weather and the occasional sailor “who just didn’t show up,” they needed almost constant communication. One can only imagine what this need must have been during World War II, with more than 600 vessels in service on the Great Lakes delivering war-crucial building and other materials. Fleet managers have raised good communication to a fine art.

This need had encouraged the creation of the “Iron Ore and Coal Exchange,” located on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, where a daily luncheon became a keystone activity of the fleet managers’ day. No agent missed this lunch, for each knew where all his vessels were and what they might need to solve a problem. Trust was paramount - a nod and a smile were better than a printed contract as arrangements to smooth out a problem were agreed upon.

The morning of November 11, 1975, Rusty got the news that engraved the previous November night forever into his memories.

Rusty remembers being informed - in an almost secretive manner - that the Edmund Fitzgerald had disappeared. It never reported for its Sault Ste. Marie check. Rusty sensed “don’t even discuss it” was the order of the day. With a chill, he thought that day of all the lives on his 18 vessels.…

At noon, an uncharacteristically subdued group assembled at the “Iron Ore and Coal Exchange.” Rusty recalls watching Frank Castle and Bob Kirby, the Columbia Fleet managers, coming into the room and quietly seating themselves.

At first silence permeated the group.Then a single voice began, soon solemnly joined by the other men present in the room.

These words, they knew, were all they could do for the men of the Fitz: “Our Father, who art in Heaven …”