George Stephens Jr.

1930 - 2021

George Stephens Jr.
June 11, 1930 - February 8, 2021
Frederick, Maryland - George Myers Stephens Jr passed away on Monday, February 8 (TBC), 2021 at Sunrise of Frederick in Maryland. George was born June 11, 1930 in Asheville, North Carolina, to the late Eleanor and George Stephens. The eldest of three, George and his siblings, Hugh and Eleanor, attended Asheville Country Day School. His high school years were spent in Pennsylvania, boarding at the George School. While at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC), he played soccer and entered the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. George joined the Navy and served on the USS Rolette, Amphibious Force, in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, then in the Submarine Service aboard the USS Blackfin, based in Pearl Harbor. He and future wife Karin met on shore and were married in July 1956 in California.
George earned an A.B in Economics, and a M.R.P. in Regional Planning, both at UNC. He became the first regional planner for the NC State Highway Commission. then was appointed Assistant for Economic Development for Terry Sanford, North Carolina's Governor. After living in Washington DC they moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and began a long time association with Little Switzerland. George earned his pilots license and many commutes and family holidays were by plane. They settled in Raleigh, NC in the early 1970s, where George continued his Stephens Associates business, conducting real estate market research, and specializing in commercial real estate.
He was co-founder and a coach of Raleigh's first youth soccer league and was a re-enactor and leader of the 1780 Overmountain Victory Trail, from Virginia to South Carolina, King's Mountain was the turning point of the American Revolution. He wrote the book "Locke, Jefferson and the Justices, Foundations and Failures of the US Government". George helped plan the performing arts center in Raleigh, was a Board member and a longtime patron of the North Carolina Symphony, enjoyed playing his flute in the Raleigh Concert Band and was a member of the Christ Episcopal Church Choir and congregation. He was awarded the Raleigh Medal of Arts in 1985.
He is survived by his children, George Stephens of Little Switzerland, NC; Tony Stephens and his wife Kilmeny of Nelson, New Zealand and their two daughters Abigail and Samantha; Annette Stephens and her husband Randy Knight of Frederick, MD and their son Marshall. His wife of 64 years, Karin Annette Stephens, passed away in January 2021. In lieu of flowers, donations to the North Carolina Symphony would be gratefully accepted.