George Stephens, 76, was a wonderful father and loving husband. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 28 years, Barbara Sue Stephens; parents Oakus and Crecy Stephens; brother Oakus Stephens Jr.; and sisters Betty Ann Pierce, Lois Maddox, and Elaine Smith.

George was born in Birmingham, Alabama to Oakus and Crecy Stephens in June of 1938. He grew up in Woodlawn and attended Woodlawn High School, class of 1957. He attended and played football at Mississippi State, then married, and had three children: Ira George Jr. (Beau), Barbara Allison, and John Paul. George and his family were very active at Huffman Assembly in Birmingham. George drove the church bus on Sundays to pick up children for Sunday School. He was also the head Commander for his son's Royal Ranger Outpost # 35 which was sponsored by the Assemblies of God Churches. George earned several National Royal Rangers Commander leadership honors and awards. Outpost #35 averaged as many as 150 Royal Rangers who were active members. George often took those Royal Rangers on many camping trips, once as far away as Idaho. He also coached both of his sons' Wyhoma little league football teams for many years.

Employed at Connors Steel/SMI Steel in Birmingham, Alabama for 38 years, George was a very hard worker at a very difficult and demanding job. His children proudly remember a father who never called in sick and never missed a day of work until retirement.

At the age of 48, George married Barbara Ammons and they eventually moved from Birmingham to Fairview, TN. Barbara had seven children and many of them were married with children of their own so he went from being the father of three to the father of ten, and a grandfather to twelve! All of his grandchildren called him Paps, and he loved every one of them so much.

Paps loved HO model trains and enjoyed spending hours making scenery for his trains. George was a member of the Dixie Model Railroad Club in Nashville where he helped design and build train layouts. He also loved to discuss history and was very knowledgeable about previous wars. He could often be found on his porch painting and transforming tiny green plastic army men into military soldiers from any country and from any war. These men were used in the battlefields he made for his train scenes.

Paps was also very knowledgeable about the Bible and could hold his own in any biblical discussion. He often preached on Sunday mornings at the Seventh Day Adventist Church where he and Barbara attended.

He is survived by his three children: son, Beau (Terri) Stephens and grandson, Chris (Becca) Stephens, and great-grandchildren Bryson, Lexi, and Lilly Stephens; daughter, Allison (Jeff) Hill and granddaughter, Abigail Craft; son, John (Cindy) Stephens and granddaughter, Hannah Stephens; and the mother of his children, Barbara Ward Stephens.

He is also survived by his seven stepchildren: Steve (Karen) Ammons, Rick (Caryn) Ammons, Mark (Donna) Ammons, Cheryl (John) Ham, Theresa Smithers, Renee Huddleston and Darryl Ammons, twelve grandchildren and their spouses, and twelve great-grandchildren.

Please join us for memorial service on Saturday, May 30th, at 10:00am at Sanctuary at the Crossroads Church, 111 Freeman Dr., Snead, AL 35952, (205) 466-5097. Lunch will be served following the service.

Burial will be at 5:00pm at the Old New Hope Cemetery – Pinkertons in Dickson, Tennessee.

Snead Funeral Home -
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