Obituary of George Alfred Stevens

GEORGE A. STEVENS (1942 - 2018) George Alfred Stevens passed away on Sept. 7, 2018, in Tucson, AZ, following a long battle with heart and lung complications. He was born on June 16, 1942 at the Fort Jay hospital, Governor's Island, Manhattan, New York City, New York, to George and Mary (Fickes) Stevens. Due to his father being in the U.S. Army for 25 years, the family lived in several different cities and states, including Ft. Dix, New Jersey, Ft. Williams, Portland, Maine (where George actually witnessed Cassie the Casco Bay Sea Serpent), Ft. Dix, New Jersey, Ft. Devens, MA, Ft. Detrick, MD, and one year in Chatelaillon, France. Being born the first grandchild of his mother's parents, and 9 cousins that followed, he was spoiled rotten. While living in Staten Island, George took up collecting stamps and as a teen-ager, attended many stamp shows in Manhattan all by himself. George graduated from New Dorp High School on Staten Island, and a few days later the family moved out to Tucson, AZ. George then joined the Air Force and served 4 years, at bases in Texas, Turkey, and Tennessee. When he came back to Tucson, George enrolled in the University of Arizona for 2 years, studying geology, and spent summers working in Glacier National Park, Montana through a U of A program. In 1966, George was hired as a Brakeman for Southern Pacific Railroad. He usually rode the freight train routes to Lordsburg, sometimes to Yuma, and a few unappealing rides to Lodi, CA. He was involved in at least 3 major derailments, and one time fell off the train while he was shooting at rattlesnakes warming on the tracks. When he first started working there, they still had cabooses. In 1972, George was promoted to Conductor, which didn't mean he rode passenger trains, just made more money. George retired medically from S.P. in 1993, with breathing problems and was extremely deaf. Diesel engines will do that to you. Later he had a serious addiction to fishing and would go around the state with his rod & reel. For a while, George was a bridge card game fanatic, belonged to a club and earned a lot of points; and went to Vegas for poker matches. In the early 1970's, he visited Ouray and Silverton Colorado, and got Colorado Fever. Along with family members, he purchased several patented mining claims there, and would often go up in summers and camp on them. This led to a simmering exhilaration for minerals. While in Colorado, he would help his brother-in-law Kin with land surveying in the beautiful Ouray and Ridgway hills, they were working for Mrs. Wayland Phillips who owned hundreds of acres there, and owned the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray. George and Kin also did a fair amount of deer hunting in those days. About the same time, he also collected mineral specimens from various mines in the Southwest and while in Colorado and New Mexico. He would travel around in his 4WD GMC Jimmy, which he nicknamed "The General." This led to a part-time business as a mineral dealer and became full-time after retiring. He had a booth at the yearly Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson for over 20 years. He also bought and sold the smaller "micromount" specimens on the Internet. He was very partial to wulfenite. George contributed to "Mineralogy of Arizona" 3rd edition, 1995. He is mentioned on various websites as "well-known Arizona field collector, George Stevens, "famous Arizona mineral collector and retired dealer." He sold many nice pieces to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for its displays or sales. However, his name would not be attributed to the specimens, per the Museum policy. Then they would call him every year before the next show, and let him take any of the surplus minerals that they were getting rid of. George retired from the mineral business in 2012. During this time, he was still a member of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, and helped out at the Society's main show in February at the Tucson Community Center. George had over the years adopted different stray cats. The last one was a huge orange cat, possibly a Maine Coon, that he named Meatloaf. In the 70's, he had an English Setter he named Patrick, and after Patrick's demise, several years later he got a Gordon Setter, "Zeke." He was always very fond of animals. George is survived by his dear friend Mary, sister Patricia (Stevens) Alex and her husband Ben; sister Marcia "Corky" Shields, niece Rebecca and her husband Pete Basznianyn, niece Jessica and her husband Tate Lofgreen, grandnephew Brayden Lofgreen, grandnephew Peter Basznianyn, grandniece Bailey Lofgreen, grandniece Audrey Lofgreen, cousins Ginny, Susan, Judy, Bob, John D and Margie, and many fellow mineral collectors. He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Mary Stevens, who are buried at the old military cemetery on Fort Huachuca; his nephew, Joseph Shields; and brother-in-law Kinyon Shields. George was a caring and generous individual, and although he was quiet, he had a crazy sense of humor. He could really get into some daring exploits and thus had stories of some of the risky collecting adventures he had survived. Names will not be mentioned due to cohorts should probably remain anonymous…… George will be missed by so many. Arrangements have been graciously handled by the Adair Funeral Homes in Tucson. George will be interred on October 20, 2018 at approximately 1300 hours at the Veterans Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Marana, 15950 N. Luckett Rd during a memorial service for several veterans.