Erica Collins Steffee

Erica Collins Steffee peacefully passed away on June 16, 2025 in Maryville, TN after a long fight with Alzheimer’s. Born on January 3, 1940, she was the eldest child of Ralph S. Collins and Maria Zubiller Collins. She is also preceded in death by her husband, William P. Steffee of Cleveland Heights, OH. who passed away in 2015. Erica and Bill were married in 1987. Erica is mourned by her siblings, Randall Collins of San Diego, CA, Mary Wagner of Meadville, PA, Melissa Mann of Maryville, TN and her extended family.

After a childhood in Europe as part of a Foreign Service family, Erica graduated from Western H.S. in Washington, D.C. in 1957 and from the University of Rochester in 1961. She earned an M.A. in music theory from Indiana University in 1962. Erica and her first husband, Carl Ellenberger, co-founded the Music at Gretna Festival in Mount Gretna, PA in 1976.

In the Cleveland area, Erica received an MBA from Case Western Reserve University in 1983 and then worked as an advisor to entrepreneurs at the Center for Enterprise Development as well as serving on the board the Music School Settlement and the Nature Center at Shaker Heights. Erica volunteered at Judson Park in Cleveland and was a member of the Western Reserve Chorale. She and her husband William Steffee enjoyed their many friends, international travel, concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra, researching and writing family histories and grandparenting.

The family wants to thank the caring and wonderful staff at Asbury Pace in Maryville, TN for their support for Erica and her family.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Erica’s name may be made to Alzheimer’s Tennessee.

www.alztennessee.org.

Funeral Services will be held in the Wade Memorial Chapel of Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, OH on Monday, June 30th at 1pm.

For additional information, directions and the opportunity to sign the guest book, please log online to www.brown-forward.com BROWN-FORWARD SERVICE 216 752-1200