Photo courtesy of Weatherhead Young Funeral Home
Brick, New Jersey
Dec 24, 1927 – Jan 2, 2022 (Age 94)
Weatherhead Young Funeral Home - 885 Mantoloking Rd. Brick, NJ 08723
Robert Edward Stephens, age 94 of Brick passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 2, 2022. He was born and raised in the village of Centre Bridge in Solebury, PA, was a 1945 graduate of New Hope High School, and a 1949 graduate of East Stroudsburg State Teachers College. He served in the US Army 37th Engineer Combat Group in Hanau, Germany, as the Athletics and Recreation NCO, coaching and captaining the U. S. Army soccer team and leading the team in the second night game ever held in Germany. After an honorable discharge in 1954, he moved to Brick and began a 31-year career teaching physical education throughout the school system, meeting his future wife, Nancy, at Osbornville Elementary School. He was an avid soccer player, referee, and coach, spending many years on soccer fields all over the East Coast. In his spare time, Robert was a locally famous artist, a member of the New Jersey Professional Artists Association, the Ocean County Artists Guild, the American Artists Professional League, and the Woodmere Art Gallery, among others. Known for his oil paintings of Ocean and Bucks Counties, he was passionate about capturing landscapes en plein air, a technique he learned as a child from his grandfather, American Impressionist Edward Willis Redfield. He was also well-known for his vegetable garden, which decorated Hooper Avenue for over 50 years.
While he played in a jazz ensemble, and enjoyed sailing, fishing, and reading, his pride and joy were his children. He is predeceased by his beloved wife of 66 years, Nancy, and his sisters Charlotte McKeown and Joan Jones. He is survived by his loving children, Lisa Walker and her husband, Joe of Topsham, ME, Barbara Whittaker and her husband, Steve of Brick, Robert Stephens and his wife, Suzanne of Solebury, PA, and Peggy Callahan and her husband, Pete of Bowdoin, ME; five grandchildren, Robert, Carly, Ryan, Katie and Jack; and 13 nieces and nephews. The funeral will be private. Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers can be made in his honor to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation for AML Research, PO Box 781352, Philadelphia, PA 19178-1352 (https://give2.chop.edu/give/369270#!/donation/checkout?c_src=22AF-eCYEGivingRdrct) . To send condolences to his family, please go to: www.weatherheadyoung.com
Read More
In memories of times at LRMS. Michael Sangiorgio
Michael Sangiorgio
March 20, 2022 | Naples | Teacher
Very Sorry for your loss. Prayers for your strength thru this period of separation. I enjoyed Coach Stephens. I remember seeing that glint in his eye that made you know he was seeing youthe real youwhen he spoke to you. A great life and a great legacy. May he rest in peace.
Tony Shupin
March 19, 2022 | Bricktown, NJ | Student
My Uncle Bob was a great person and an important influence on my life, and, yes, he was also a bit of a character. He had a great mind and had an abundance of talents including music, landscape painting, gardening, and soccer. Before he had his own kids, I was his first nephew and the only male grandchild in our family for a few years. Because, he didn’t live too far away, Uncle Bob became an important male role model for me in my youth, given that my own father was rarely around. He took me...
Terry Jones
January 21, 2022 | San Luis Obispo, CA | Family
Mr. Stephens was my gym teacher for nearly every year from Kindergarten to my first year in high school. During my Kindergarten year he visited our class more often as the year progressed. During that summer he married our Kindergarten teacher, Miss Nancy Oxenford.
He was one of the better gym teachers - firm but fair. During the early grades, one of the favorite games he taught us was "I say stoop" which was a variation of "Simon Says."
Just before our senior...
Joseph Brower
January 06, 2022 | North Cape May, NJ | Student
