To save money for college tuition, he held jobs that included bookkeeping, logging and agriculture.

Hans was a Swedish soldier, as well as a convicted criminal, who became a respected leader in both New Sweden and the Dutch New Netherland.

After Han's death, Ella and her sons adopted the surname Steelman, presumably from a combination of her maiden name Stille and her husband's patronym, Måns.

After President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a fourth term, Steelman worked for a short time in New York City as a public relations consultant.

In 1948, he turned down the post of Secretary of Labor, preferring to stay at the White House, where he was particularly focused on establishing policies on science and higher education.

When he died of natural causes in July 1999, in Naples, Florida, at the age of 99, he was survived by his wife of 38 years, Ellen Brown Steelman.