Stephens, Horace Walter
STEPHENS, Jr., Horace Walter
Horace Walter Stephens, Jr., known as Walt Stephens to his vast social circle of family, friends, Morehouse classmates, Boy Scouts, church members and colleagues, has fulfilled God's purpose. He passed away on October 30, 2020 at the age of 78.
Even when he was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer four and a half years ago, Stephens lived life to the fullest every day, frequenting such restaurants as The Marietta Diner, OK Café, Another Broken Egg with his Morehouse classmates, and hosting appreciation lunches for the nurses on his chemo team. A charming and charismatic man of great faith and a stylish dresser who taught Sunday school at Hoosier Memorial United Methodist Church up until a few weeks before he died, Stephens was not afraid to surrender to the Lord. Instead, he knew the Lord wanted him to live life to the fullest until he was called. And so he did.
He lived by his favorite Bible scripture Luke 12:48: "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." Also a fan of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Stephens internalized one of his quotes as well: "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." This was never more evident than in his devotion to his family, church, Morehouse classmates and his Buffalo Soldiers Troop 141.
A proud 1964 graduate of Morehouse, Stephens credited president Benjamin E. Mays with teaching him the meaning behind Luke 12:48. Stephens earned a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in sociology at Morehouse and obtained diplomas and certificates in advertising and business from the Georgia State College Institute of International Business. Stephens remained the social center of his circle of Morehouse Men who continued to uplift each other and meet regularly for meals and community service decades after they graduated.
Stephens joined Mead Corporation in 1968 during the time of segregation. He became a trailblazing executive, worked there for thirty-three years in the advertising, cost accounting, international sales and worldwide packaging departments, the first Black to become a manager of an international division. Not satisfied with exceling while others were left out or left behind, Stephens helped form the group Black Employees Against Discrimination (BEAD) which demanded and negotiated changes within the company in 1970 to address racial discrimination, salary and promotion disparities, and lack of training and advancement opportunities.
Stephens found what he called his ministry when he formed Buffalo Soldiers Boy Scouts Troop 141 in 1987. He was a devoted scoutmaster for 25 years. He named the troop, which was sponsored by Hoosier Memorial United Methodist Church, after the strong, proud, and fierce Black soldiers who were deployed out west after the Civil War to protect the territories from the Native Americans who bestowed upon them the name of the buffalo.
Over his twenty-five years as Scout Master, Stephens influenced and nurtured approximately 1,500 Black youth, many from inner city communities, instilling within them the spirit of the Buffalo Soldiers. He was the ultimate mentor and role model who taught them discipline, pride, Black history, faith and the true meaning of manhood. He traveled the country and even the world with his scout troop, visiting 42 states within the United States, including Alaska, Europe and making two trips to Africa. In 1998, Buffalo Soldiers Troop 141 was featured in WSB-TV's "Action News Primetime with John Pruitt" about their trip to Nicodemus, Kansas. Not one of the most exotic places to visit in the scouts' minds, that experience proved to be one of the many provided by Stephens that changed their lives when they discovered it was the town established by the first freed slaves who moved West after the Civil War, including Buffalo Soldiers. https://vimeo.com/wsbtv/review/451313111/22a0ca513e
In addition to receiving a Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor presented by the Boy Scouts of America, Stephens' leadership has been recognized by the local, state and national government and media. In 1996, the Georgia Secretary of State honored Stephens for his dedication and commitment to scouting and former president and Georgia governor Jimmy Carter awarded Stephens with a Citation of Merit. President Clinton invited Buffalo Soldiers Troop 141 to a conference he hosted in Atlanta. In 2001, the Atlanta City Council issued a proclamation recognizing "Walt Stephens Day," honoring him for "his compassion and loving spirit for promoting pride, academic achievement, unity and commitment among African-American people for the sake of our communities, our young people and our future." Stephens was also the recipient of WXIA-TV Channel 11's Community Service Award. When he retired as scoutmaster in 2013, the Boy Scouts of America made a special presentation to him in recognition of his distinguished service and dozens of his former scouts and families gave tributes about the lasting impact Stephens has had on their lives.
Stephens was always grateful for the childhood role models he had in his own life. He was born and raised by his mother Lottie Mae Powell Hamilton Sears Houston in Quincy, Florida (she and his father Horace Walter Stephens were divorced), until she married Marion Hamilton and relocated to Belle Glade, Florida. Stephens' stepfather worked there as a civics teacher and principal. Both Florida towns were known to be rural and without many opportunities for their Black residents, but Stephens and his older sisters Priscilla Stephens Kruize and Patricia Stephens Due were taught by both parents the importance of civic duty and their rights and responsibilities as citizens. His sisters would go on to lead the first jail-in of the nation during the civil rights movement as FAMU college students in Tallahassee in 1960.
Stephens was a sickly youth with semi-paralysis of one arm but his mother ensured he got the best treatment possible in Miami. That is where he learned his fashion sense as his mother worked for a high-end clothing store. He also gained his mother's passion for "collecting," always collecting artifacts and mementos to memorialize important or special occasions in his life or society. Stephens ultimately overcame his condition with perseverance and humor and his great success is chronicled in the book Up From the Muck by Dr. Effie C. Grear.
Stephens was originally planning to attend college at Howard University but suddenly changed his mind at the train station, a decision that he toldMorehouse magazine in 2013 was attributable to God. That decision would impact the rest of his life and result in his greatest pride and joy – his family. Stephens would meet his beloved wife Ethelyn (Rita) Willis at a campus party, became impressed by her vocabulary (among other things), and they celebrated fifty-two years of marriage this past August.
He credits her love, faith and companionship as giving him the strength to continue fulfilling God's purpose by living life to the fullest throughout their lives together and especially during these past four and a half years. They raised two beautiful and talented children, Swarita Stephens and John Stephens, and were hands-on grandparents to all of Swarita's daughters with Gary King, Sierra, Kierra and Zaria King. Stephens' other daughter Sarina Cooper and son-in-law Vincent Cooper were also a big part of his family. He was very close to his nieces Tananarive, Johnita, and Lydia, daughters of his late sister Patricia, but especially Johnita as she lives in Atlanta and they often celebrated their March birthdays together. He felt blessed later in life to be able to bond with his siblings (he rejected the notion that they were "half" siblings) from his biological father's subsequent marriage, Delores, Deborah, and Robert Stephens. Stephens was always delighted when he won "Friends and Family" day by bringing the most visitors to his church.
Through his family, faith, Morehouse classmates, Meade Corporation associates, and Buffalo Soldiers Troop 141, Walter Stephens' impact on the lives of others and on the city of Atlanta and nation will be everlasting.
