BYRDSTOWN--Frank Stephenson, husband of M. Kathleen Williamson
Stephenson was translated into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ,
whom he had faithfully served for more than seven decades, on Sunday,
May 14 in Byrdstown. He is survived by sons Paul Joseph Stephenson
(Sharon) of Kingston, TN, James Frank Stephenson (Debra) of
Greenville, SC, and daughters Cathy Stephenson Mullins (John) of
Byrdstown, and Rebecca Stephenson Matheny (Donnie, deceased) of
Byrdstown. He was predeceased by his wife Kathleen and daughter Rose
Frances.
He leaves behind six grandchildren: David Stephenson (Karen) of
Jamestown; Jessica Stephenson Taylor (Russell) of Charlotte, NC;
James “Jay” Frank Stephenson Jr. (Stephanie) of Crested Butte, CO;
Lori Mullins McClain (Shawn) of Cookeville; Larae Beaty (Ron) of
Byrdstown; and Jennifer Matheny Flowers (Wendell) of Byrdstown. There
are 13 great-grandchildren.
There will be a memorial service to remember God’s promises and to
honor Frank on Saturday, May 27, at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary of the
First Baptist Church of Byrdstown.
Frank was born in humble circumstances in the Miami community of
Cabin Creek, WV on July 22, 1919, the son of Erma Spradling and
Lebanese immigrant Carter Cassem. He was preceded in death by both
parents, half-brothers William Spradling, Kenneth Woodrow Spradling,
Russell Stephenson, Raymond Stephenson, Roy Steven Spradling, and
half-sisters Rena Spradling Eggers and Jean Massey Warner.
Raised in a region where coal was king, he was averse to working in
the mines. Enlisting in the US Marines in August 1940, he led a squad
of leathernecks into combat with the 1st Marine Division, Fifth
Regiment, as a member of Edson’s Raider Battalion at Tulagi and
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Isles.
Returning to Quantico, VA to serve as the personal orderly of the
Commandant of the US Marines, he married his long-time sweetheart
Kathleen on July 24, 1943. The defining year of their marriage was
1946 when both Frank and Kathleen made genuine professions of faith
in Jesus Christ.
Spiritually mentored by the Rev. Reid Jepsen, pastor of the City
Bible Center in Charleston, WV, Frank became an active lay leader
while employed by the US Tire & Rubber Company in South Charleston,
WV. Sensing a call to ministry, Frank attended the Prairie Bible
Institute in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada from 1950-54. Upon
graduating, he returned to West Virginia and became the organizing
pastor of the Cross Lanes Bible Church in July of 1954. Over the next
three decades, he would pastor congregations in Ravenswood, WV, Fort
Pierce, FL, and Byrdstown. Along the way, he helped organize churches
in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. In 1983, retiring from the
full-time pastorate, he moved to Crossville to become the eastern
representative for the Rio Grande Bible Institute and Language
School. After several years, he retired to Kingston, TN, where he
continued to serve the Trinity Baptist Church in Harriman, TN as a
part-time assistant.
Throughout his many years, he touched countless lives as a gifted
personal evangelist, able church planter, winsome radio preacher, and
much beloved pastor. He was a faithful and loving husband to Kathleen
for 71 years, until her death in January of 2015. She adored him from
the first time they met - at a party in Cabin Creek, WV when only 15.
Frank’s children affectionately remember him as a generous, devoted
father and earnest servant of Jesus Christ, with unimpeachable
integrity. He loved his family and their spouses, as well as his
brothers and sisters-in-law, nephews, and nieces. All who knew Frank
would testify that he “practiced what he preached” and no one doubted
his sincerity.
His commitment to Christ and His Kingdom was the driving force in his
life. A lover of the gospel and long-time student of the Bible, his
life verse was “that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed
to His death…” (Philippians 3:10)
Frank Stephenson’s was a life well lived, with a gospel-centered
purpose, characterized by joy, humility, gratitude, generosity, and a
grace-enabled constancy. Thanks be to God!
