BILL STEVENS

1932 - 2014

William Ray Stevens, oldest child and only son of Owen Ray and Thelma (nee Smith) Stevens, passed away on Monday, May 12, 2014 at the age of 81 years.
Relatives and friends were invited to meet with the family at Southland Funeral Chapel, 5006 - 48 Avenue, Taber on Friday, May 16, 2014 between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. The Burial Service followed at the Barnwell Cemetery with Bishop Tyler Johnson conducting.
Bill is survived by his four children Robert Stevens of Vancouver, Charmaine (Bob) Fritz of Loveland, Colorado, Dixie Stevens-Cameron of Calgary and Lance Stevens of Calgary; daughter-in-law Kathy Stevens of Airdrie; six grandchildren Matt Dixon, Savannah, Colton and Kyle Cameron, Shelley and Mark Stevens; two great grandchildren Ellie and Rhys Greenall; sister Kay (F. David) Reed of Salt Lake City, Utah.
He was predeceased by his wife Kathryn Stevens and a son Thomas William Stevens in infancy.
Bill grew up and completed high school in Barnwell and Taber and earned a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University. After graduation and marriage he worked for Pioneer Feed and National Grain Company in Alberta and Saskatchewan as an agronomist. When the RCAF offered commissions to persons with a university degree he was quick to respond and therefore to fulfill his childhood dream of a career in the Canadian Air Force. He served his career in Edmonton and Ottawa as a captain in the air movements unit. Bill also served in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Cypress where he was awarded a U.N. peace keeping medal. After retirement from the RCAF he and his wife, Kathryn returned to his beloved childhood home Barnwell where they enjoyed retirement, farming and gardening. Bill worked for a while as a police commissionaire for the City of Lethbridge. His favorite pastimes were doing crossword puzzles and reading. Bill especially enjoyed chaucers' canterbury tales, anything by Rudyard Kipling and Robert Service as well as poems of Rupert Brooke. He was much loved and will deeply missed.