Louise W. Stevens

Stevens, Louise W. SHEFFIELD, Mass. Louise W. Stevens, 85, of Egremont-Sheffield Road, died August 15, 2008, at the Great Barrington Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after a long illness. Born on August 15, 1923, in Albany, N.Y., daughter of Dr. Frank J. and Mary Williams, she attended St. Agnes School in Albany and graduated from St. Mary's High School, Peekskill, N.Y., and in 1943 from Centenary College, Hackettstown, N.J. Primarily a homemaker, Louise enjoyed raising her family, and will be lovingly remembered for her gracious and gentle spirit. Louise was a talented seamstress who developed her love of making dolls into a worldwide mail order business called "The Little Doll House." She became a recognized doll maker by having her doll listed in Harrad's Price Guide for American Made Dolls. She had a large collection of antique dolls and miniatures in a shop in her home for many years. She was a longtime member of the Shaker Doll Club. Louise was an active member of Christ Church Episcopal in Sheffield, serving on the altar guild, the vestry, and singing in the choir. She also contributed handmade crafts to the church fair every year. She was a member of the Thursday Morning Club. She married her husband, Dr. Richard M. Stevens, DMD, on April 6, 1943 in Albany. In 1947, they moved to Stockbridge, where her husband was the town dentist and they raised their six children. They moved to Sheffield in 1974. She leaves her son, Richard W. Stevens of Great Barrington; four daughters, Mary Agnes Allen and her husband Warren of Irvine, Calif., Katherine Stevens of Santa Rosa, Calif., Eleanor Neumuth of Jacksonville, Fla. and Rebecca Batacchi and her husband Arthur Jr. of Sheffield; six grandchildren, Lucien Allen, Genevieve, Amy and Otto Neumuth, Alexis Batacchi and Rachele Bonhotel and her husband Jason; one great-grandson, Jesse Bonhotel; one brother, Frank J. Williams Jr. of Altamont, N.Y. and his wife Marjorie and their children, Frank, Frederick and Carrie Williams; and two grandnieces. Besides her husband, Richard, who died in 1997, Louise was predeceased by a son, John W. Stevens, who passed away in 1993.