Thomas William Stephens

1942 - 2024

Thomas William Stephens

Sep 1, 1942 - Jun 27, 2024

Dr. Thomas William Stephens (Tom) passed away at home in Cleveland Park, Washington DC on Thursday, June 27, 2024, with his wife, Sue, of almost 60 years by his side.

Tom was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on September 1, 1942, to Thomas Aloysius Stephens and Marian Elizabeth Stephens (née Juliano). He received a BA in English from Gannon University in 1964. After marrying his high-school love, Susan Ann Morrissey, on August 8, 1964, the newlyweds moved to Washington, DC, where Tom earned an MFA in Speech and Drama from The Catholic University of America in 1966. He began teaching at Randolph College (formerly Randolph-Macon Woman's College) in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1966 where he founded the Department of Theatre and was the Thoresen Professor of Theatre Emeritus. He earned his PhD in Theatre from the University of Denver in 1972. He retired in 2009 from Randolph College after 43 years as Chair of the Department of Theatre and Performing Arts.

Tom was an educator, award-winning playwright, director and sometimes actor. A former Shubert Playwriting Fellow, past President of the Southeastern Theatre Conference and former regional chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Tom wrote dozens of plays, both long and short. His plays have been produced or developed at numerous venues, including the National Playwrights Conference of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center; Berkeley Stage Company; Washington DC's Source Theatre Company (first original play produced); Bruno Walter Auditorium, NYC; NY Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; Pittsburgh New Play Festival; University of Virginia; Washington, DC's Capital Fringe Festival; Dallas Theater Center; American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco; Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre, Los Angeles; Barter Theatre's Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights, Abingdon, VA; Ashland's New Plays Festival; North American Actors Association's Playreading Festival in London; Baltimore Playwrights Festival; Great Plains Theatre Conference, Omaha; Detroit Repertory Theatre; and the John F. Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival. He was a long-time member of the Washington, DC's Playwrights Forum. Most recently he was a board member of PlayZoomers and produced a new play in Spring 2024.

Tom's love of travel included being selected in 1976 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to join a tour group of performing arts educators for a six-week trip to India to participate in a performing arts exchange. He traveled around the United States to participate in various theatre festivals. His travels continued to take him around the world to Europe, Asia, and South America.

Tom will be most remembered for his quick wit, humor, warmth, and empathy. He never met a stranger. He could get a lively conversation going with any group. He knew how to make connections with others, and he was always able to get people to open up to him as he was skilled in helping people feel they were heard. He had a terrific sense of humor and was a great storyteller.

He had an incredible love for learning, reading, and anything that peaked his creative interest. He strived to write every day, always had several books he was reading, and found numerous classes to keep him busy. His most recent endeavors included an online Italian class in which he was determined to keep up his daily streak, just like his daily streak of completing NY Times crossword puzzles, which numbered well over a few hundred.

He introduced his three children to the creative world of theatre and the arts and encouraged them to achieve all they could. He remained proud of each of his six grandchildren and was always curious about their lives and achievements. He came on family vacations with Boompa's "magic bag", and every night would pull out a new treat to entertain the kids, after which he led group sing-alongs with his ukulele.

Tom is survived by his wife, Sue of Washington DC; daughter, Laura Stephens; and son-in-law, Paul Breedlove; grandchildren, Lillian and Nicholas Breedlove of Silver Spring, Maryland; son, Colin Stephens and daughter-in-law, Anne Stephens (née Petty); grandchildren, Samuel and Henry Stephens of Bend, Oregon; daughter, Sarah Sharp; and grandchildren, Jenna and George Sharp of Boulder, Colorado; brother, Ronald Stephens; and sister-in-law, Anne Stephens of Erie, Pennsylvania; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and countless friends and colleagues. He will be greatly missed.

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.

If desired, please consider a contribution in Tom's honor to PlayZoomers at https://www.playzoomers.org/donate-today.