DEDHAM - DONALD DUANE STEVENS – On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, Donald Duane Stevens passed away surrounded by his adoring five children and his wonderful family at his Lake Lucerne home, after a brief but valiant battle with cancer.
Donald Stevens was born at home on the family farm in Clayton, Illinois, on November 19, 1938, the son of Samuel Riley Stevens and Geneva Maude (Peacock) Stevens. After attending a one-room schoolhouse, he graduated in 1955, at age 15, from Quincy High School - with perfect SAT scores - and accepted a full scholarship to MIT, where he stayed until he was old enough to be appointed to the US Air Force Academy. Earning the honors of the Jabara Award, Outstanding Mathematics Student and Honor Committee Chairman, he graduated second in the second graduating class of the USAFA in 1960, but he was always nulli secundus.
True to his academic focus, Don subsequently earned a Masters Degree in Mathematics at Michigan State University in 1969, a PhD in Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University in 1974, and Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama in 1978. He was an instructor of mathematics at the USAFA and Auburn University, was Department Head of the Department of Operations Sciences in the School of Engineering with the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and served on the staff of the Air University at Maxwell AFB, in addition to various institutional commander roles.
While stationed at Dow Air Fore Base, Don met and married the love of his life, Joan Marie (Ward) Stevens on October 24, 1964 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Bangor, ME. Joannie predeceased him on May 31, 2016, yet he remained devoted to her until they could be reunited.
Don and Joannie were the proud parents of five surviving children, collectively “the NUTS!”: Kathleen Suzanne Stevens Rosa (Augusto Rosa), Mark Riley Stevens, Christopher Sean Stevens (Robyn Stevens), Julie Stevens Lawhead (Joel Lawhead) and Erin Theresa Stevens (Josiah Reibstein). Don is the third of four siblings, brother of Samuel Stevens, and was predeceased by Clarence Stevens, and JoAnne Daly. He was also the very proud grandfather of eleven amazing grandchildren: André Augusto Stevens-Rosa, Piér Paolo Stevens-Rosa, Geneva Luisa Stevens-Rosa, Luca Donovan Stevens-Rosa, Claire Danielle Stevens, Eric McLees Smith, Harrison Gamble Smith, Lauren Elizabeth Lawhead, William Riley Lawhead, Lillie Anne Lawhead and Elaina Marin Lawhead, and great-grandfather to Arlo Stevens-Rosa Thomas. Don also leaves behind an extended loving family and many friends, but joyfully joins his O-1 Bird-dog back-seater and friend, Chuck Korus in eternal flight.
Since earning his pilot wings in 1961, Don enjoyed flying, whether in fighter jets or for leisure, his last flight having been over the family cabin on Lake Lucerne, just a few weeks ago. His military career, spanning three decades, was illustrious, and included a year in Vietnam where he earned the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver Star, citations for which can be read at https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3473. Don was a true hero, in every sense.
Upon retirement from the Air Force as Colonel in 1986, Don began a second career as a military research engineer at Georgia Tech, before taking on his favorite role as Grandpa full-time, and relocating to Maine, the place that has always been the epicenter of the Stevens family.
The road goes on forever and the party never ends…
A Mass of Christan Burial will be celebrated 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at Our Lady of the Lake Chapel on Green Lake, 5 Finnegan Dr, Dedham. The Rite of Committal, with Military Honors, will take place immediately following the Mass at Mount Pleasant Catholic Cemetery, Ohio Street, Bangor.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Donald Stevens, please visit our flower store.
Donald Stevens was born at home on the family farm in Clayton, Illinois, on November 19, 1938, the son of Samuel Riley Stevens and Geneva Maude (Peacock) Stevens. After attending a one-room schoolhouse, he graduated in 1955, at age 15, from Quincy High School - with perfect SAT scores - and accepted a full scholarship to MIT, where he stayed until he was old enough to be appointed to the US Air Force Academy. Earning the honors of the Jabara Award, Outstanding Mathematics Student and Honor Committee Chairman, he graduated second in the second graduating class of the USAFA in 1960, but he was always nulli secundus.
True to his academic focus, Don subsequently earned a Masters Degree in Mathematics at Michigan State University in 1969, a PhD in Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University in 1974, and Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama in 1978. He was an instructor of mathematics at the USAFA and Auburn University, was Department Head of the Department of Operations Sciences in the School of Engineering with the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and served on the staff of the Air University at Maxwell AFB, in addition to various institutional commander roles.
While stationed at Dow Air Fore Base, Don met and married the love of his life, Joan Marie (Ward) Stevens on October 24, 1964 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Bangor, ME. Joannie predeceased him on May 31, 2016, yet he remained devoted to her until they could be reunited.
Don and Joannie were the proud parents of five surviving children, collectively “the NUTS!”: Kathleen Suzanne Stevens Rosa (Augusto Rosa), Mark Riley Stevens, Christopher Sean Stevens (Robyn Stevens), Julie Stevens Lawhead (Joel Lawhead) and Erin Theresa Stevens (Josiah Reibstein). Don is the third of four siblings, brother of Samuel Stevens, and was predeceased by Clarence Stevens, and JoAnne Daly. He was also the very proud grandfather of eleven amazing grandchildren: André Augusto Stevens-Rosa, Piér Paolo Stevens-Rosa, Geneva Luisa Stevens-Rosa, Luca Donovan Stevens-Rosa, Claire Danielle Stevens, Eric McLees Smith, Harrison Gamble Smith, Lauren Elizabeth Lawhead, William Riley Lawhead, Lillie Anne Lawhead and Elaina Marin Lawhead, and great-grandfather to Arlo Stevens-Rosa Thomas. Don also leaves behind an extended loving family and many friends, but joyfully joins his O-1 Bird-dog back-seater and friend, Chuck Korus in eternal flight.
Since earning his pilot wings in 1961, Don enjoyed flying, whether in fighter jets or for leisure, his last flight having been over the family cabin on Lake Lucerne, just a few weeks ago. His military career, spanning three decades, was illustrious, and included a year in Vietnam where he earned the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver Star, citations for which can be read at https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3473. Don was a true hero, in every sense.
Upon retirement from the Air Force as Colonel in 1986, Don began a second career as a military research engineer at Georgia Tech, before taking on his favorite role as Grandpa full-time, and relocating to Maine, the place that has always been the epicenter of the Stevens family.
The road goes on forever and the party never ends…
A Mass of Christan Burial will be celebrated 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at Our Lady of the Lake Chapel on Green Lake, 5 Finnegan Dr, Dedham. The Rite of Committal, with Military Honors, will take place immediately following the Mass at Mount Pleasant Catholic Cemetery, Ohio Street, Bangor.
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