Ann (Colvard) Stover

Age 88, of Beavercreek, passed away Sunday, February 20, 2020. Born in Asheville, North Carolina to Lenora Marcella Wright Colvard and William Frank Colvard on June 26, 1933, Ann leaves behind daughter Lynn Leffler (John) of Georgia, and grandchildren Nicholas and Sydney Leffler. Preceding Ann in death were her husband of 64 years, Philip Eugene Stover, son Gregg Cameron Stover, and older brother Hugh Colvard who passed when Ann was a teenager. Raised in Robbinsville, North Carolina, Ann was a woman of decision and initiative, with interests far beyond her small mountainous hometown. When her mother was away working on a degree, Ann decided to take in lodgers at their farm, providing room & board. A fan of basketball, she would sit with her mother and listen to Duke University games on the car’s radio, and she played on her high school’s team in addition to being a cheerleader. Ann earned a degree in Secretarial Administration from Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. After graduation Ann was working as a schoolteacher in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, when she was introduced to Phil Stover, a recent mechanical engineering graduate working in nuclear engineering within Oak Ridge’s defense industries. They played tennis on their first date – a harbinger of things to come. Soon Ann told Phil that they were going to get married, and (always planning ahead) even told him the wedding date! After their morning wedding they set off on an ambitious honeymoon road trip, but as it happened, on their wedding day (August 18, 1956) the only dinner they could find was some packages of peanut butter crackers from a gas station! Phil and Ann moved to the Dayton area in conjunction with Phil’s military service in the Air Force. Ann thought that she might see the world, marrying a military man, but Phil’s decades of work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base kept them in Dayton. So, Ann and Phil still saw the world, but on vacation – it is easier to list the countries they didn’t visit – and they were true adventurers: what they experienced one day would guide the next day. Their travels were memorialized in their home, kept pristine by Ann, with elegant Asian themes inside and out. Ann’s ever-present appetite for perfection was evident in their expansive gardens and landscaping; given enough time, Ann would have personally vacuumed up every stray leaf. And there was Christmastime: every surface (and numerous trees) decorated, and she displayed over 100 Santa figures she collected from around the world. Phil and Ann’s joint interest in tennis was met by building a tennis court in their backyard, and they went to tennis resorts in Hilton Head for many years. Ann and Phil also loved the visual and performing arts, with season tickets to the theatre, the symphony, and the opera for decades. A full life indeed – and Ann still found time to work as a realtor, raise two brilliant and creative children, and dote on her grandchildren. Ann will be missed. Arrangements are through Tobias Funeral Home in Beavercreek; there will be no in-person service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.tobias-fh.com for the Stover family.