Frances Stevens Obituary

Frances Parkin Oliver Stevens MT. PLEASANT - Frances Parkin Oliver Stevens, 98, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, passed away Friday, May 30, 2025. Frances was born August 28, 1926, in Bayonne, New Jersey, daughter of George and Isabella Grace (Brown) Oliver. The family soon moved to Montclair, NJ, where Frances spent her childhood. She graduated from Montclair High School in 1945 earning the school's distinctive Owl Pin Award as an all-around outstanding student. Upon graduation, she attended a New York City secretarial school, highly regarded for the rigorous training and emphasis on professionalism and societal refinement, where she prepared for executive secretarial positions and was offered a gateway to the business world. After graduation, Frances worked closely with the head of a New York City advertising concern. She met Kings Point Cadet, John Jason ("Steve") Stevens Jr., at an Academy dance and they married September 5, 1946. They had three children, Marilyn Leigh (Tom Remington), John Jason III (Eileen) and Richard Hunter (Lori). Frances and Steve were married for 63 years until Steve's death in 2009. Frances worked as a homemaker and part time secretary in New York until the late 1950's when the family settled in Westport, CT. Frances continued her part time secretarial work there until 1965 when the family moved to Newtown, CT, where she took a full-time secretarial position with the Board of Education. She remained there for the next 25 years, rising to the position of secretary to the Newtown High School Vice Principal. During her tenure, Frances was the Newtown High School Yearbook honoree two times and she acted as the Secretarial Union Representative, negotiating significantly better working conditions and pay for the Secretarial Group. Frances and "Steve" retired to Charleston, SC, in 1988 where she continued to work in the Old Market until 2016 when she retired on her 80th birthday. Frances loved gardening, growing and tending to her beautiful orchids and doting on her many dogs especially her Newfoundland, "Bruce", and her West Highland Terrier, "Moxie". Frances was loved by all who knew her and is survived by her three children and her four grandchildren, LCDR John Jason Stevens IV and wife, Amy Johnson Stevens, George Bernard Stevens and wife, Sarah Morton Stevens, Sable Larissa Stevens and husband, Ryan Bosworth, Alex Tanner Stevens and wife, Lauren Stevens; her six great-grandchildren, Emma Caroline Stevens, John Jason Stevens V, Hazel Lillian Stevens, Rowyn Layne Bosworth, Shaylynn Olivia Bosworth, Cameron Walter Stevens; and her nieces and nephews, Mary Elizabeth Kelley, Barbara Lane Schpok, Elizabeth Lane, Dougal Herr and Robbie Duncan. The family extends a special word of thanks to the staff members of Savannah Grace and Heartland Hospice for their exceptional care and compassion. A Memorial Service celebrating Frances' life will be held Monday, July 21, 2025, in the J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Mount Pleasant Chapel, 1494 Mathis Ferry Road, at 10:00 am. The family will receive friends at the funeral chapel from 9:00 am until time of the service. Memorial donations may be made to the Charleston Animal Society, 2455 Remount Road, North Charleston, SC 29406. Messages of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com.