Harold Stephenson

Stephenson, Harold
Harold "Steve" Stephenson passed away peacefully, at age 80, on May 6, 2011. A veteran of the Korean War and a lifelong attorney, Harold was a beloved brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather whose vitality, adventurous spirit, and creative mind will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him. He is survived by his daughters Katherine and Lynne, his son Tom, sisters Anne, Nan, Joe-Pippa and Eva, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Born on September 30, 1930, Harold was the second of five children. He spent his youth in Collinsville, Illinois where, as a high school student, he would discover a passion for long distance running that would last through his life. After receiving his Law Degree from The University of Missouri, and serving two years in the U.S. Army, Steve moved west, settling in Arizona to practice law, raise his family, and, with some like-minded runners, form the Arizona Road Racers. As an attorney in Phoenix, and later in the northern Arizona cities of Flagstaff, Holbrook and Pinetop, Steve was a champion for the underprivileged and the powerless - often waiving his legal fees to help those in need. Many who knew Steve knew him as an outgoing man, a lover of sports and the outdoors who spent as much time as he could hiking, fishing and travelling. He was quick with a joke, eager to meet strangers, ready to raise a glass in celebration, and always willing to strike out on new adventures. Those closer to him, and those who knew him in his later years, also knew a lover of opera, an inveterate collector and teller of stories, a Civil War buff, a poet, playwright and songwriter. He will be missed by those he leaves behind, but their lives will have been made better, and certainly more interesting, by having known him. Harold requested that there be no formal services, only that his ashes be spread under the open skies of his beloved northern Arizona. The family requests that those who wish to remember Harold make donations to Legacy Hospice in his name.