Helen M. Stephens, 81, of Peoria, and Savannah GA, died on Thursday, June, 24, 2021, at the OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home.
Services were held on Tuesday, June 29, at Davison-Fulton-Woolsey-Wilton Funeral Home in Peoria, with Rev. Jack Thompson officiating. Burial was at Parkview Cemetery in Peoria.
Mrs. Stephens was born on Nov. 13, 1939, in Audubon Township, to Roy E. and Edna P. (Workman) Davis. Davis. She married Gerald “Jerry” Stephens on Aug. 7, 1965.
Mrs. Stephens graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1957 and attended Eastern Illinois University. She and her husband established the Gerald D. and Helen M. Stephens Foundation, which has supported many organizations and causes. They created the Gerald and Helen Stephens Professorship in Wildlife endowment at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in memory of their son, Doug, who was a wildlife management student at the university. In 2008, their generosity led the OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria to dedicate its NICU as the Gerald D and Helen M. Stephens Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Most recently they established the Gerald D. and Helen M. Stephens Directorship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Gerald D. and Helen M. Stephens Center for Stone Disease at the Brady Urological Institute, also at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Mrs. Stephens is survived by her children, Angie (Charlie) Larson of Hudson, WI, Jeff (Janet) Stephens of Morton, Jenni (Chet) Krupiarz of Traverse City, MI, and Jo Stephens of Phoenix, AZ; grandchildren, Charles Larson, Ryan Larson, Andrew Stephens, Amanda Stephens, Brianna (Roland) Hinzo, Bethany Krupiarz and Cameron Krupiarz; sisters, Betty Edwards of Medora, Shirley Coffee of Santa Maria, CA, and Elva Emmons of Edwardsville; and brother, Donald E. (Beverly) Davis of Coffeen.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; son, Douglas R. Stephens, and sisters, Rosetta Woods, Leavy Davis, Cleda Davis, Geneva Graden, Ila Becker, Vida Graham, Norma Keiser and Lelia Drew.
Memorials may be directed to the OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home, 8630 North Illinois Route 91, Peoria, IL 61615. Condolences may be left online at www.woolsey-wilton.com.
