"Steve" John Stephens

John E. Stephens II (Steve) was born September 19, 1950 in Ashland Kansas to John D. (Jack) Stephens and Jean Schroeder Stephens.  Steve attended Ashland High School and graduated in 1968. After high school he attended Pratt Junior college for two years. He couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do, so he joined the Air Force in 1970. He was stationed at Spangdolem Air Force Base, Germany and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. While stationed in Germany, he married Margie Holiday on February 18, 1972 in Bitburg, Germany. Steve and Margie knew each other from high school, but only dated for two weeks before they decided to get married. They remained together until Margie’s passing.  Steve and Margie had three children Chris, Lyne, and Jose.  After his discharge from the Air Force he returned to Ashland to engage in farming at the Stephens Ranch with his father in 1974. Through the years he worked at the Ashland Co-op, Ashland Feeders and Filson Manufacturing. Steve's job at Filson's took him all over the country selling cattle equipment. He loved this job and never met a stranger no matter where he went. He returned to the ranch in 2002 where he spent the rest of his life farming and ranching. Steve was never found without a smile on his face, a joke to tell, or a kind word of encouragement.  Steve was preceded in death by his wife Margie on August 20, 2016, parents Jack and Jean Stephens, father in law Ted Holiday, and nephew Bryan Allison.  Steve left this earthy home on February 11, 2019 in Coldwater, Kansas. Steve is survived by his children, Chris (Heather), Buffalo, Oklahoma, Lyne (Don), Minneola, Kansas, Jose (Meghan) Hays, Kansas. Brother Don, Chickasha Oklahoma, Mother In Law, Jane Holiday, Oologah Oklahoma. Eight grandchildren, Damon and Kellen Stephens, Shanelle Sharp, Jalin, Julia and Jackson Johnson and Jenna and Jase Stephens, nieces, nephews, special friend Diana Owens, other family and friends. Memorials can be sent to Bryan K. Scholarship-Ashland Catholic Church, First Presbyterian Church Ashland, or Comanche County Hospital, all in care of Wilkinson Funeral Service, Ashland, Kansas.