[List] Fwd: Obituary: Bill Stephens

[Cecil Stokes]

Too good no to share ...



-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [List] Obituary: Bill Stephens
Date: 	Fri, 27 Oct 2023 21:11:03 -0500
From: 	Sue Schwarz <schwarz.sue at gmail.com>
To: 	Cecil Stokes <cstokes at hiwaay.net>



WD was a force on his own.  He and Bill Schwarz were friends in and out 
of work.  Lots of tales about their days in Sports Car Club of America, 
times with their families when their children were young and on and on. 
  He walked into our house not too after Bill and I bought the house 
here in Mentone with a vineyard included.  He brought the supplies 
needed to start a batch of wine with commercial scuppernong juice, and 
proceeded to coach Bill Schwarz in setting the wine to start.  That 
began a 20 year love of wine making for Bill Schwarz.  I think I speak 
for my Bill when I say that Stephens was a best friend to him and his 
family  for decades

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 27, 2023, at 8:41 PM, Cecil Stokes <cstokes at hiwaay.net> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Mike,
>
> This is just too good not to share!
>
> Cec
>
> On 10/27/2023 8:09 PM, Comcast wrote:
>> Perhaps my fondest memory of Bill occurred around 1994.  I was the 
>> Function Chief of the Ballistics section under Bill at MICOM. I had 
>> decided to begin pursuit of a PhD from UAH and Bill surprised me with 
>> a small party at which he gifted me with a dollar “for lunch money at 
>> school”.  I framed that dollar with the quote “The true test of a 
>> man’s character is what it takes to make him give up” and kept it on 
>> my office desk throughout my courses. Upon graduation, I took the 
>> framed dollar to Bill’s house and gave it to him.
>> Bill was a leader that I always tried to imitate as I later assumed 
>> his role as Director.
>> Mike Lyon
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Oct 27, 2023, at 1:13 PM, Cecil Stokes <cstokes at hiwaay.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> 
>>>
>>> Dr. William D. (Bill) Stephens - rocket scientist, respected leader, 
>>> race car driver, tennis player, scuba diver, Egyptologist, snow 
>>> skier, palm reader, wine maker, poet, poker player, yachtsman, 
>>> sharpshooter, fisherman, master negotiator, maker of memories and 
>>> hopeless romantic - died at age 90 on 10/17/2023.
>>>
>>>  Born 11/17/32 to Claude E and Lillian Cole Stephens in Paris, 
>>> Tennessee, Bill was raised in Charleston SC, Scranton PA, and 
>>> Louisville KY. He graduated from Western Kentucky then earned his 
>>> PhD in Chemistry at Vanderbilt University. He had a long and 
>>> successful career at Thiokol Chemical Corporation in Huntsville, AL, 
>>> then Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Akron, OH, then back to Thiokol in 
>>> Huntsville. He went on to work for Atlantic Research in Washington, 
>>> DC, before returning to Huntsville again in 1983, as Director of 
>>> Propulsion for the US Army Missile Command (MICOM) until his 
>>> retirement in 1998. During that time, he also served for 18 months 
>>> as Associate Director of Technology for MICOM's Research, 
>>> Development and Engineering Center, managing all areas of research 
>>> and exploratory development.
>>>
>>>  An internationally recognized authority in investigation of 
>>> explosions and accidents, Dr. Stephens was chosen to direct the 1985 
>>> technical investigation of the catastrophic explosion of a US 
>>> Pershing in Germany. During 1987, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the 
>>> State Department assigned Dr. Stephens to lead the US technical team 
>>> negotiating the INF Disarmament Treaty with representatives of the 
>>> USSR in Geneva, Switzerland. Under his leadership in 1993, a 
>>> five-year cooperative development program with Japan was started, 
>>> followed by programs with the governments of Egypt, France, South 
>>> Korea and Israel.
>>>
>>>  Dr. Stephens served twice as Chairman of the Executive Committee of 
>>> the joint Army-Navy-Air Force Propulsion Committee (JANNAF). 
>>> Other professional accomplishments included being granted or named 
>>> on over 20 patents ranging from incorporation of bucky balls in 
>>> solid rocket fuels to gel-based fire suppressants.
>>>
>>>  He was preceded in death by his parents and sister Steve-Anna Bird. 
>>> He is survived by brother Charles Stephens (partner Anne Brown) of 
>>> Fort Gratiot, MI, and his children Dan Stephens (Lisa) of Batavia, 
>>> IL, Steve-Anna Stephens of Tucson, AZ, and Jenny Stephens (partner 
>>> Kevin Robling), Bloomington, IN, as well as grandchildren Dani (and 
>>> Hesham Nouh), Nate Stephens and Jon Stephens, and great 
>>> grandchildren Mia and Rami Nouh.
>>>
>>>  A longtime resident of Huntsville, Alabama, Bill lived in 
>>> Fayetteville, Tennessee from 2016 until January, 2023 when he moved 
>>> into assisted living to be close to his youngest daughter in 
>>> Indiana. Following cremation, his children will lay his ashes to 
>>> rest in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. There will be 
>>> no public service.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> List at hdaa.info
>>> http://lists.hdaa.info/mailman/listinfo/list
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