Obituary of Stephen Joseph Stillwell

Stephen Joseph Stillwell, sr. was born at Underwood Hospital (now Inspira Medical Center) in Woodbury, New Jersey, on 16 October 1928. His parents were the late Albert Glenmore Stillwell, sr. and the late Ada Thelma Prickett Stillwell. He was their second son; his brother Albert, jr. had died as an infant and so they never knew one another. He was joined shortly by a younger sister, the late Thelma Ada Stillwell Hannon Shimano. Stephen Stillwell passed away 6 November 2015. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jean-Marie Reynolds Stillwell. Over the years, he and his wife lived in Mount Holly and Lumberton, New Jersey and in Oro Valley, Arizona. He is also survived by his children and their spouses, Stephen J. Stillwell, jr. (Thomas L. Wilding) of Sahuarita and Jean-Marie Huisjen (David R.) of Oro Valley; his grandsons, Frederick S. Warner and Stephen C. Warner and his fiancée, Maree Archuleta. Additionally, he is survived by his sister-in-law, Glenda Ann Reynolds, and his niece, Lori-Ann Reynolds Pitts (James E. III) of Sierra Vista and a number of grand-nephews in Arizona, Florida, and New Jersey. Steve lived as a child and youth in Collingswood, Lake Pine, and Mount Holly, New Jersey, where he attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School, graduating in the Class of 1947. Too young to enter the military during the Second World War, he worked on the home front as a truck driver. He later entered the floral industry working in Mount Holly, other localities in south Jersey, and in Philadelphia. He took horticultural classes in Montreal. He eventually joined a partnership with Robert E. White in the Bob White Flower Shop. He won numerous awards for his floral designs and counted among his clients, Mitzi Gaynor and Sergio Franchi; but, he was most proud of his customers, Elvis and Priscilla Presley. Eventually, his partner retired and Steve took control of the business and expanded it. In addition to running the small business, he was a popular instructor at the local night school run through the high school with many of the town's women taking floral design classes. Steve loved to travel and two-week family driving vacations became the custom for many years. He delighted in visiting botanical gardens - and made special trips to British Columbia, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico to do so. He also enjoyed sites of historical significance, particularly battlefields and old forts here in this country, in Canada, in France, and in Great Britain. He visited 35 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 7 of the Canadian provinces. He was a keen fisherman and spent hours at the Jersey Shore - on the beach or on one of its inlets or on the lakes of Maine indulging in that sport. Most of his fishing buddies have long since passed on. An avid reader, he consumed several crime or spy thrillers a week. He also enjoyed pinochle and bridge. Steve was also active in civic affairs. He served for several years on the local school board for the Francis W. Holbein School in Mount Holly. He was active in both the Elks Lodge #0848 and the Lions Club, and served as "King Lion" for the club in Mount Holly and in North Tucson. One of the great joys of recent years was his receiving a 60-year membership pin and becoming a Melvin Jones Fellow. He was a member of the First Methodist Church of Mount Holly, where he was married, and later St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Hainesport. After he and his wife moved to Oro Valley in the fall of 2006 to be close to their children, both of whom settled in the Tucson area, he joined Casas Adobes Congregational Church, UCC. The family wishes to thank the staff at Friendship Villas at LaCholla and Casa de la Luz Hospice who took care of the family patriarch in his declining and final days. Services will be conducted by Reverend Lee Milligan of Casas Adobes CC, UCC assisted by Reverend Delores Kropf of St. Michael the Archangel, ECC, on Wednesday 11 November 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Family flowers only. Donations to Music Program, zCasas Adobes Congregational Church, UCC.