Clarence Stephens

As a very salt of the earth kind of person, Clarence Stephens was a hard worker even from his earliest moments. The man he grew into reflected this fact, as he was a stable, thorough and dependable man people were proud to know.

The early 1920s were a collage of interesting events. There were power struggles in Russia, Babe Ruth was setting baseball records, and the first Miss America was crowned. But for most of the people living in the farming community of Conklin, Michigan, such happenings were nothing more than headlines in a newspaper. Their lives centered around raising their families and earning a living. This was the life of Martin and Jessie (Pratt) Stephens. The Stephens owned a farm and lived in the old farmhouse, which was still heated by the stove and had no running water or indoor plumbing. Martin eventually rebuilt their dilapidated outhouse, making it a more sturdy shed with three holes.

Already the proud parents of two children, Martin and Jessie were anxiously awaiting the birth of their third child in the beginning of 1921. On the evening of January 30th, Jessie went into labor and Dr. Wenger, who was just about to leave out for the evening for dinner with his wife and guests, was summoned. While his guests waited in the car, Dr. Wenger delivered the Stephens healthy baby boy, Clarence. But much to everyone’s surprise, there was another baby close behind - Jessie was having twins! Dr. Wenger politely told his guests to go on to dinner and went back in to deliver Clarence’s identical twin brother, Stanley.

Growing up on a farm is not an easy life and consists of a lot of hard work. Along with his siblings, Clarence grew up with an appreciation of hard work and had much responsibility around the farm. Once school age, Clarence would walk a mile along the railroad tracks to the one-room schoolhouse called Old Miller School, and then return home the same way to do his before dinner chores, which included feeding the horses and cattle and cleaning the stables. After dinner, he went back out to milk the cows before doing his homework and off to bed. During the summers, the family worked from sun up to sun down in the fields and in their large vegetable gardens. After dark, the remaining chores around the farm were completed and if there was time, the family gathered around the radio to listen to WLS in Chicago. Clarence was in his early teens when the farm actually got electricity and a crank style phone.

When it came to their leisure time, Clarence and his brothers liked to head out to the swimming hole made by the creek that ran through their farm. They’d change in the nearby dressing shack and take a cool dip. When they were younger, their father bought them Shetland ponies, and they had lots of fun riding and caring for them too. When Clarence was about 7, his mother started taking the children to the Methodist church in Marne, since she was raised Methodist, but they later joined the Reformed Church in Conklin.

Like his older siblings, Wilson and Alice, Clarence and Stanley attended Berlin High School in Marne; however, after a year, they transferred to Coopersville High School. During the wintertime when the heavy snow closed the roads, the boys would have to walk or even ski to school. Being a student was not one of Clarence’s strong points and in 1937, he left school to work full-time on the farm. After his brother, Stanley, graduated a year later, they both got jobs assembling furniture at Imperial Furniture in Grand Rapids. It was during this time that Stanley started dating Marian Post, and she introduced Clarence to her friend, Nellie VerWys. The two of them also began dating, though Nellie’s father was not too happy about it because Clarence was not Dutch or Netherland Reformed. However, after getting to know him better, her father warmed up to him.

As the war years approached, the auto companies were looking for tool and die apprentices, so Clarence and Stanley headed to Detroit to work as such. Since this job paid double what the furniture factory did, Clarence was able to return to Grand Rapids and buy himself a brand new 1940 Chevrolet. It was on his drive back to Detroit that Clarence heard the horrific news about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. A year later his brother, Stan, married Marian on his 21st birthday, and that fall, Clarence enlisted in the Army Air Force and headed off for basic training at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. He then went to gunnery school in Laredo, where he learned to maintain aircrafts, and eventually trained to become a flight engineer.

While on furlough, Clarence returned home to marry his sweetheart, Nellie, on December 3, 1943, by Rev. Van Harn of the Conklin Reformed Church. The newlyweds spent their wedding night at the Rowe Hotel in Grand Rapids. Nellie returned to Texas with Clarence and got a job in the Finance Office on base; the couple was later able to move off base to government housing. It was during this time that Clarence and Nellie were blessed with their first child, son David Martin, born December 9, 1945. A month later, Clarence helped close up Laredo Field where he was stationed because the war had ended. He was then transferred to Randolph Field for a short time before finishing out his tour of duty at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Clarence received his honorable discharge on February 22, 1946

Once home, Clarence secured a job at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, but was also waiting to get into their tool and die apprentice program. Meanwhile, he and Nellie bought their first home with the GI Bill in Lincoln Park, and settled their family here. Not long after, Clarence was accepted into the apprenticeship program, but was laid off a short time later. He then went to work at Letwin Manufacturing, which made store fixtures, but after the owner was killed in a plane crash, he was laid off. Despite the ups and downs with his job, Clarence and Nellie celebrated the birth of their daughter, Kay Louise, on September 27, 1947. With no job prospects, the couple decided to move their family back to Grand Rapids, where Clarence took a job at Grand Rapids Cabinets. After a year and a half here, he was offered a job with Glen Martin to learn the tool and die trade, like he had always aspired to do. Clarence would later go to work at Die Cast Die Co. (now Marton Tool and Die) with Frank Marton.

Clarence and Nellie eventually rounded out their family with the births of two more sons: Thomas John on March 17, 1951, and Gerald Lee on August 5, 1953. The Stephens outgrew their home in Lincoln Park, and soon bought a lot at 939 Brownwood NW, where they built a three bedroom ranch, doing most of the work themselves. However, on April 3, 1956, the family nearly lost their new house to a tornado that came through, destroying many homes around them.

Although Clarence worked hard to support his family, he and Nellie also found time to travel and have fun. In 1965, the couple took a trip to Hawaii to visit their son David, who was stationed there in the Navy. They also bought a pop-up camper and traveled with it to Niagara Falls in New York and New Hampshire, and later vacationed on Lake Muskellunge in the Upper Peninsula for several years. Their travels also took them to Canada and overseas to Nova Scotia. After Clarence retired from Marton’s on January 31, 1986, a day after his 65th birthday, he and Nellie began traveling more extensively. They traded their camper for a new conversion van and traveled with it along the west coast, through Oregon and Washington as well as to the British Columbia. Many of their family reunions were also spent on Crockery Lake. Not one to be idle, Clarence kept busy driving cars for area auto dealers for several years, and made many great friends in the process. In his quieter moments, Clarence enjoyed reading, barbequing, feeding his birds, and tinkering with computers and electronics. He was also a member and former elder of the Walker Christian Reformed Church.

In 1993, the couple sold their house and moved to Ironwood Condos, so they had less maintenance and more time for travel. Then in 1995, Nellie was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and died four years later in 1999. As Clarence’s health declined and he needed additional care, he went to live at Covenant Village of the Great Lakes, where he was under hospice for the last several weeks. Clarence died here on Friday, April 11, 2008, at the age of 87.

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, Clarence will be greatly missed yet frequently remembered.

Clarence was preceded in death by his wife, Nellie; daughter-in-law, Beth Stephens; and brothers, Wilson and Stan Stephens. Clarence is survived by his children: David (Sue) Stephens, Kay (Martin) Den Braber, Thomas (Debbie) Stephens, and Jerry Stephens; 10 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; sister Alice Doane; and many nieces and nephews. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15, at the Seventh Reformed Church, 950 Leonard Street NW, Grand Rapids. Friends may meet the family on Monday, April 14, from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. at Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes, 2120 Lake Michigan Dr. NW, Grand Rapids. Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to Heartland Hospice. Please visit Clarence’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you may share a memory with his family or sign his online guest book.