Joan Stephens, 90, of Bloomington, died Friday at the IU Health Hospice. Joan was born February 15, 1927, in Bloomington, the daughter of the late Harry M. Stephens Sr. and Carrie E. (Butcher) Stephens.
Joan grew up in Bloomington, where her father’s Oldsmobile dealership was the family trademark. A Bloomington High School graduate, she worked at Indiana Bell Telephone, then later for several years with Southern Bell Telephone in Florida before returning to Bloomington.
Along the way, she developed an exceptional skill as a photographer. She loved to travel, and her touch with her camera preserved special memories from her trips, highlighted by a safari to Kenya. The walls in the Bloomington home she and her beloved sister Peggy Stephens Watson shared in her later years were brightened by Joan’s pictures: fields of flowers, a giraffe caught giving her full attention when confronted in the African wilds.
She was a member of United Presbyterian Church in Bloomington.
Known to all that loved her as Jo Jo, survivors in addition to her sister Peggy include niece Jane Johnson of Bloomington, great-nephew Casey (Abbie) Hamilton and their children Lane and Colter of Cainsville, Mo., great-niece Nikkie (Cory) Holtwick and their children Ava and Drake of Kansas City, Mo., and many wonderful friends that she made throughout the years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Dorothy Mae Stephens, and a brother, Harry M. Stephens Jr.
Services for Joan will be 12:00 p.m. Thursday at The Funeral Chapel of Powell and Deckard, 3000 E. Third St. Rev. John Napoli will officiate the service, and burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday from 11 a.m. until the service.