<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">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. <div>Bill was a leader that I always tried to imitate as I later assumed his role as Director. </div><div>Mike Lyon</div><div><br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Oct 27, 2023, at 1:13 PM, Cecil Stokes <cstokes@hiwaay.net> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-font-kerning:0pt">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-font-kerning:0pt"> 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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
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"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-font-kerning:0pt"> 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. </span></p>
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"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-font-kerning:0pt"> 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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-font-kerning:0pt"> 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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-font-kerning:0pt"> 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.</span></p>
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