John Stevens was born April 11, 1914 in rural Montpelier, MS. His general-store-owner father stressed the importance of a good education to John and his three siblings Joe, Hugh, and Margaret. John left home with a single suitcase and his banjo to begin his influential college days just as The Great Depression gripped the country. As the Depression drug on, John continually returned to college to wait out the hard times, attending five colleges over 11 years. While helping his siblings through college, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a Phd in Physical Chemistry.Shell Oil hired the new Phd grad as the world turned its attention to WW II. After a few years in Shell's San Francisco office, John found himself working in the heart of New York Cityquite a contrast for a Southern 'country' boy. It was here he met his wife, Mary Katherine, also a southerner, from Corpus Christi, Texas. Married in 1961, the couple had two children, and were transferred back to The San Francisco Bay Area in 1970. Three years later, John took early retirement, and in 1977 moved 'home' to Mississippichoosing the Tupelo area. John and Mary enjoyed the next 30 years there with John often indulging his hobbies of horticulture, The Civil War, fishing, a 'golden oldies' band he founded, and church activities. After Mary died in 2007, John spent his last years near his daughter in Charlotte, NC in an Alzheimer's home. He died peacefully on his 96th birthdayApril 11, 2010.He is one of a generation that saw unprecedented changes during his lifetime. He grew up in a horse and buggy farming community, had a chance meeting with Charles Lindbergh, frequented train depots, marveled at radio and telephone, became accustomed to indoor plumbing, hitchhiked, owned a Model T, was of the first generation to fly on commercial airlines, witnessed the birth of the nuclear age, saw a man land on the moon (on a TV!), and taught himself to use a PC. His ability to adapt and embrace change was remarkable.He is survived by his son Jim, his daughter Ginger, three grandchildren, and his autobiography which is housed at the library at Miss State Univ. His children will remember him as a wonderful father and a man with a passion for imparting wisdom. He was a brilliant man.