Rebecca Stephenson

Rebecca “Becky” (Dean) Stephenson, 67, passed away on Mar 28 at home surrounded by family and close friends.  

A memorial service will be held at Beltway Park Church, south campus at 11:00 on Wed, April 3rd.  The family will do a private graveside service at a later date. Her girls plan on wearing bright colors to Becky’s service, as she was so colorful and would never have wanted a drab, all black service.  Ladies, get your red lips on and let’s celebrate her. A BBQ lunch at The Shed will be served immediately after the service. 

Becky was born Oct 27th, 1956, in Abilene, TX.  She was the second born of the four children of Hollis and Betty Dean.  She loved to share her memories of growing up on the family farm in Wingate with her older brother, Ricky, and two younger sisters, Teresa and Carla.  They fished, swam, slid down the banks of Fish Creek, and climbed in the giant oak trees on the farm.  They worked as hard as they played, and the four Dean kids grew up being much closer than most siblings.  The bond they shared was formed early and continued to grow after Ricky broke his neck in a horseback riding accident.  From the age of 14, Becky was an almost constant caregiver for her brother.  This was probably the basis of her desire to become a nurse later on.  Becky loved to play basketball and was an amazing athlete.  She held the high scoring record at Winters HS.  This record may or may not have been broken by her sister, Carla, but for now we’re going to assume she still holds the record.  After graduating from Winters HS in 1975, she left the farm to attend nursing school at Angelo State University.  She was unaware how much her life was about to change for the better when she met fellow ASU student, Billy Stephenson.  

Becky married her best friend in March of 1977, the same year she graduated ASU and received her RN license.  They moved to Trinity, TX where she worked as a nurse and Billy was a prison guard at Huntsville.  In November of 1977, they were blessed with their first son, Byron.  They came back to Runnels County in 1978 where she worked in a local hospital and Billy started working for Halliburton.  Their second blessing, Bradley, was born in January of 1980.  When Bradley was four they moved to Abilene, where the boys went to school at Wylie all the way through graduation.  

Becky touched countless lives and was able to show the love of Jesus by being His hands and feet during her 39 year career as an RN.  She was as fierce as she was kind as a nurse and would stand up to any Goliath to be the best advocate for her patients as well as her coworkers.  She was fearless for her people.  If you had the privilege of being her patient or her friend, you were family to her and she would do anything for you.  Everyone was “baby, sugarbear or honey.”  She took every opportunity to tell her people she loved them.

Billy and Becky were given their first grandchild, Taylor in 1999 and life was never the same from then on.  Becky became Meme and that was all she wanted to be.  Three more grandkids followed: Brock in 2004, Sutton in 2009 and Bradlee in 2014.  As much as Meme did for all of us, she never asked or expected anything for herself.  She never missed a game, performance, stock show, track meet, Grandparents’ day, or anything else in their lives.  She was always present for them until about two months before she passed, and just couldn’t do it anymore.   Our Meme had no quit in her.

Meme battled metastatic breast cancer for almost 8 years.  She handled it with more grace and grit than any of us would have been able to.  After her metastatic diagnosis, she and Billy took off in their RV and travelled all over the US, seeing everything they had ever wanted to see while she still could.  They had a lifetime of adventures together and the most inspiring marriage.  They were the ultimate example of love, obsessed with each other from the beginning to the end.  It was an amazing life so well lived together, that ended way too soon.

Becky was preceded in death by her parents, Hollis and Betty and her big brother, Ricky.  We are sure they had a beautiful Easter celebration together upon her return.  

Meme is survived by her husband Billy Stephenson, her son Byron and wife Stacie, grandkids Taylor and Connor Carlton and Brock… her son Brad and wife Megan, grandkids Sutton and Bradlee…her sister Teresa and husband Carey, sister Carla and her husband Bryant, as well as multiple nieces, nephews and cousins who absolutely meant the world to her.  Family was everything.  

Becky was not a fan of goodbyes.  Always stalling, not wanting to leave or say goodbye on the phone.  So, to Meme we say, “Okay, baby…love you sugar…alright honey…okay, see you soon…bye bye.”