James W Stephens died at 8:30 AM on Monday January 9 2017. He died in his sleep. His wife Lisa found him. He was 74 years old. He is survived by his wife Lisa, three adult children, Matthew Freeman, Erinn Mullen, and James Drew Stephens, his Granddaughter Emily Mullen and his son-in-law Chris Mullen. Also eight siblings, Peter, Michael, Kaitlin Block, Joe, Rosemary Vault, Tom, MJ Santana, and Brendan. Also twelve nieces and nephews in New York, Florida, North Carolina, California, and Louisiana.
James or JW as he liked to be called was born in Brooklyn, NY (Weeksville), raised in Williston Park, NY. He joined the U.S. Army after graduating Herricks HS in 1960. He served in the Army Medical Corp in Stuttgard, Germany. Since 1970 he dedicated his life serving alcoholics and addicts. He was a “Friend of Bill W.” Trinity, Florida has been his home base since 1992. He was a larger than life character, physically and imaginatively.
The service will be held at Bay Pines National Cemetery, 10,000 Bay Pines Blvd., Bay Pines, FL 33708, on February 17, 2017. Please meet at the administration building by 1:00 PM, Services start at 1:30 PM. Following the service there will be a get together at 5:00 PM at 1237 Mazarion Place, his home for the past 25 years.
Jimmy was the coolest,most interesting brother a guy could ever have. Since his passing I can not get him out of my head. The world will never be the same without my big brother. Thanks for all your service to your family,friends, and county.we miss you terribly. Say hello to Mom & Dad for the rest of us.
My oldest brother Jimmy has died in his sleep. He was 74 years old, 46 years sober, a larger than life character, physically and imaginatively, and he battled myriad mental and physical illnesses all his life. This did not stop him from being one of the funniest people alive and also doing a ton of service for other people with alcohol and drug addiction problems. He was a great inspiration to me as a writer and creative person, and he will be missed.