William Robert Stephens, age 83, passed away on Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Mesa, AZ. He was born on February 19, 1943, in Taylor, MI to Leroy and Irene Stephens.

Bill graduated from Taylor Center High School in 1961 and graduated from Olivet College in 1965. He played football and ran track there.

After graduation from college, he taught biology and science at Taylor Center High School and Truman High School for 32 years. He also coached high school football and track at both of these schools.

After retiring in 1997, he was inducted in 2004 into the Taylor Sports and Recreation Hall of Fame for his many years of coaching football and track in Taylor.

Bill and his wife, Mary Ann, spent 28 years during the winter in Mesa, Arizona. They enjoyed not having to be in the cold Michigan winters.

They also traveled quite extensively. Bill's bucket list trip was to the Galapago Islands. He really enjoyed this trip. Being the biology teacher, he had a lot of comments and knowledge about the animals and Darwin's philosophy on this trip.

He enjoyed playing tennis for many years and was an avid golfer.

During his retirement he did a lot of wood carving. This was his passion in his later years when he wasn't able to play sports a lot. He won many ribbons for his carvings at carving shows. He made a lot of carvings to give to people. They enjoyed picking out their favorite carving. His last big project was 4 flying birds. He really enjoyed doing that one and was very proud of it. One of his biggest joys was teaching new carvers the skill. He was very good at that!

Bill is survived by his loving wife of 45 glorious years, Mary Ann Stephens; a very special aunt, Grace; brother in law, Rob (Joy) Kirr; many nieces and nephews, Shelly (Ben) Diaczok, Shannon Saliba, Scott (Karleen) Stephens, Tom Stephens, Brent (Leslie) Stephens, Taylor (John) Boyer, Mark (Jane) Stephens, Gregg (Clarissa) Stephens, Robbie (Chris) Stephens, Todd (Natalie) Stephens, Sarah (Branden) Perry, and Daniel Kirr. There are many great nieces and nephews and also great greats who will miss their Uncle Bill.

He is preceded in death by his parents, and brothers and sister, Jim, Jerry, Tom, Mick and Dorothy Westphal.

There will be a Celebration of Life in June 2026 in West Branch, MI. There will also be one in Mesa, Arizona in January 2027.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF). essentialtremor.org