Sally Steele married Lieutenant John D. Comer on November 29, 1955, at the MacArthur Chapel in Tokyo, Japan.

[7][8] Steele took on the father role for Crawford's four adopted children - Christina, Christopher, and twins Cathy and Cynthia ("Cindy").

I’ll always treasure our brief time together.”[9] In 1956, the couple moved to New York, purchasing and merging two top-floor apartments at 2 East 70th Street into a spacious eight-room family penthouse with views of Central Park.

Alfred Steele began as a geologist,[12] and went on to work for the Chicago Tribune, Standard Oil of Indiana, and D'arcy Advertising Company.

While working for the Union Bed & Spring Company, Steele conceived the "Sono-Meter", a device that measured the energy lost while people tossed and turned on an uncomfortable mattress.

[18] Under his leadership, the company launched massive advertising campaigns and sales promotions during the '50s, resulting in an 11-fold increase in net earnings.

[19] While opening a plant in Atlanta, Steele remarked Coca-Cola was not Pepsi's biggest competitor - tea and coffee were.

He added, "It's a tribute to the Coca-Cola Company that the number of its former employees are on the management team helping Pepsi-Cola move up.

Other initiatives for Pepsi were the adaptation of vending machines, global expansion for selling and producing, and for the parent company to help arrange funds with banks for bottlers to buy equipment with no down payment.

In 1957, Crawford and Steele toured Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for Pepsi-Cola’s recent expansion.

To quote a 1956 New York Times article: "Together [Alfred Steele and Joan Crawford] constitute one of the most successful teams in America's public and private life.

"[2] In 1957, 11-year-old Chester Arnold Jr. was given five shares of Pepsi, but after watching The Solid Gold Cadillac, the boy was compelled to write to Steele.

They attended board meetings and were escorted by police to one of the most elaborate ribbon-cutting ceremonies Pepsi-Cola hosted at the time.

[23] Alfred Steele was selected as chairman of the 1959 fund campaign of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on November 6, 1958.

"[25] On the morning of April 19, 1959, Steele was found on the floor next to his bed by Crawford, who immediately called a doctor.