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James R. 'Jr' Stephens Tacoma, WA QCWA # 17256 Chapter 4 |
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James Russel Stephens, 94, of Anacortes, WA passed away from pneumonia on Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at Island Hospital in Anacortes.
He was born on March 7, 1921 at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of John Russell and Sarah Grace Stephens. JR, as he came to be called, grew up in Southern California attending schools in Hollywood, Long Beach, and Santa Ana. He graduated from Santa Ana High in 1939 where in his senior year he was editor of the school.s weekly newspaper. Majoring in journalism at Santa Ana Junior College, JR concentrated on news photography, became president of the Camera Club and soon was taken on as a .Stringer. (part time) photographer covering Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties for the Los Angeles Times.
In September, 1940, he met Dorothy June Barnes in an art class. They became good friends, began dating the following summer, and eloped to Yuma, Arizona where they were married in September, 1942. Offered a chance to enlist in the Army Signal Corps. Pictorial Service ten days after his marriage, JR accepted it, and was assigned to five months of night school studying Still Photography at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Meanwhile, he worked at Douglas Aircraft Corporation in Long Beach. In February, 1943 his Army Reserve unit was called to active duty and he was sent to Louisiana where he joined the 5th Signal Mobile Photo Unit, attached to the 38th Infantry Division, for basic training. Dorothy joined the Navy in March where she served until September, 1945.
During WW II, JR photographed two beachheads, Leyte and Ormoc in the Philippines and later served as the photographer for HQ Middle Pacific Command.s Public Relations Office (PRO) at Fort Shafter, Oahu, Hawaii. He quickly rose in rank from Private First Class to Staff Sergeant, and was honorably discharged in January, 1946. Bored with civilian life, Jr enlisted in the Regular Army.s 4th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, California (1948) where he took charge of the division.s PRO and the post.s weekly newspaper. In November of that year he was directly commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps Reserve but retained as a Regular Army sergeant until December 1951 when he was ordered to active duty in his commissioned rank. From then until June 1965 when JR retired as a Major he was assigned to the following schools: Basic and Advanced Officers courses, The Defense Information course, and The Defense Language Institute (studied Greek).
Overseas assignments (after 1948) included Greece, Korea, Austria, England, and France. During this time he served in command and staff positions at National, NATO and UN levels. In 1966 JR entered the University of Arizona where, by June 1969, he was awarded two Bachelor.s degrees: one in Anthropology and one in Secondary School Education (Dean.s List) with a major in social studies.
By 1979 he had worked ten years at a Florida high school as a social studies teacher and substance abuse counselor following the award of a Master.s degree in counseling from the University of Miami.
Between 1946 and 1955, JR and Dorothy (AKA Dottie) had four children: Jim, David, Diana, and John and by .79 they had all embarked on their own lives, leaving an .empty nest. in Florida. Consequently, JR and Dottie retired from the school system and moved to Washington State where they settled on five acres of forestland south of Tacoma. He worked for a short time as a photo archivist at the Fort Lewis Military Museum, tried selling real estate, and finally accepted a part time teaching position at Pacific Lutheran University where he taught until 2001 in an adult education department.
In 1987 he was awarded a Ph.D. in education from Columbia Pacific University in California, a distance-learning institution. St. Mary.s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia condensed his doctoral dissertation as a book, and in 2007 his first historical novel, Camera Soldiers: The Philippine Odyssey, was published. His memoirs are archived in the Institute for WW II and the Human Experience at Florida State University and at The Center of Military History, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Another three of his books are available from Amazon, both in paperback and Kindle.
His two main hobbies in life were Ham Radio and Photography. Dottie also enjoyed ham radio. His call sign was W6JMA and hers was K7JQA. They passed their love of their hobbies on to their kids.
In 2011, JR and Dottie moved to Anacortes, Washington to be near their daughter and her family so they could assist them in their later years. They were married for 71 years and 5 months. JR was very lonely without her and was ready to go to be with her. His whole family deeply loved him and will forever miss him.
JR was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy (Dottie) who passed February 7, 2014. He is survived by sons Jim (Vicki) Stephens of Georgetown, TX, Dave (Suzanne) Stephens of Battleground, WA and John Stephens of New Zealand; his daughter Diana (Loren) Smith of Anacortes, WA; grandchildren Dana (Stefanie) Smith of Anacortes, June (Cory) Gardner of Austin, TX, Rosanna (Danny) Chan of Van Nuys, CA, Brian (Abbey) Stephens of Van Nuys, CA, and Matthew Stephens of Eugene, OR, and great-grandchild, Alister Gardner of Austin, TX.
Internment with military honors will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, June 5, 2015 at Fernhill Cemetery in Anacortes. A Memorial Service will follow at 2:00 p.m. at Family Life Assembly of God Church in Anacortes.
Arrangements are in the care of Evans Funeral Chapel and Crematory, Inc., Anacortes, WA and the San Juan Islands. To share memories of JR, please sign the online guest register at www.evanschapel.com.