William Edwin Stephens, Sr.

William Edwin Stephens, age 101, passed away peacefully on May 28, 2024, at Denver Hospice. 

Bill was born September 26, 1922, in Excelsior Springs, MO, to Tracy Valentine Stephens, Sr., and Josephine Knowlton Stephens.  After the death of his father in February 1923, Bill’s mother raised him and his older brother, Tracy Jr., in Cadillac, Michigan.   

After graduating from Cadillac High School in 1940, Bill’s studies at Michigan State College (now MSU) were interrupted by service in the U.S. Army Signal Corp during World War II.  After the war he resumed his studies at MSC, met his future bride (a fellow student at MSC), and graduated in 1948 with a BS in electrical engineering.   

Bill married Margaret Louise Newton on January 29, 1949.  They raised two children in Jackson, Michigan, where Bill worked 31 years as an electrical engineer for Commonwealth Associates.  In 1980 Bill and Marge relocated to Aurora, Colorado, where he worked until retirement as an electrical engineer for Stearns-Roger. 

Bill sang in church choirs until well into his 90’s, most notably at Jackson’s First Congregational Church and at Denver’s Parkview Congregational and Augustana Lutheran churches.  

In addition to his parents, Bill was predeceased by his wife of 70 years (2019) and by his brother (1957).  He is survived by his son William H. (Yue-chih “Mona”) Stephens of Longmont, CO, and his daughter Sharon (Mark) Clements of Tecumseh, MI; grandchildren Robert Stephens, Donald Stephens, Amy (Guy) Gibson, and Christopher Wallace; and great-grandchildren Bryce Mills, Adalyn Gibson and Gage Gibson. 

A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 29, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at Augustana Lutheran Church (address below).  Bill’s cremains will be interred alongside his wife’s in the memorial garden at the church. 

Donations in memory of Bill may be made to Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 E Alameda Ave., Denver CO, 80246.