Eileen L. Stevens

Eileen Lorraine Barnes Stevens was born on December 18, 1921 in Franktown, Colorado to Ara Asa Barnes and Lillian Savalia Dietrich. Her father loved Irish songs, and she was named after the song “Eileen”. She had 4 brothers, George, Howard, Richard, and Melvin; and 3 sisters, Virginia, Eva, and Winifred, who died at five months.

She is survived by her 3 daughters and 2 son-in-laws: Don and Kathy Labun, Sherry Craig (husband-Jim, deceased), and Art and Lorraine Hockman; 5 grandchildren: Clorinda (husband-Kenneth), Shannon, Michelle, Dottie, and Jay (Mary); 11 great-grandchildren: Jr., Cody, Dante, Ryon, Myrenda, and Elysa (husband-Curtis), Jesse, Holly, Victor, Steven, James; and 4 great-great grandchildren: RJ, Kyra, Reina, and Ryden.

Most of her growing up years were in an 8’ by 8’ log cabin in a canyon in Franktown. They had an exciting time exploring the many adventures of canyon-life.

Eileen finished the eighth grade, and then had to go to work to help support her family. This was very hard for her, because she loved school. She continued to read and learn all the rest of her life. When she would play ‘Boggle’ with her family, she would come up with words they were sure didn’t exist…but when they looked in the dictionary, they found them!

Eileen loved music. Her grandfather and uncles made violins and also played them. Her Uncle William Dietrich was in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. She really wanted to play the accordion. An accordion company offered free lessons if they bought an accordion. Her Dad was so excited that he bought an accordion. She learned “Bicycle Built for Two” and “Drifting and Dreaming” by ear. Her Dad couldn’t keep up with the payments, so the accordion had to go back. On Christmas Day, she got an accordion. She took the accordion when they went to her Granddad Dietrich’s house, and she learned all his songs.

Eileen was asked to play for dances, and she eventually became a part of Pat’s Wranglers’ and did that for several years. It was at one of these dances that she met Murrell Stevens. Once she met Murrell, there was no one else for her (although she had many suitors). One suitor asked her to marry him and raise pigs. She told him she was not interested and he asked someone else the next day who accepted his proposal!

Eileen and Murrell continued to see each other. Murrell and his brother, Elmer, went to California to join the army. Murrell was not accepted because he had flat feet, so he stayed in California and worked at Lockheed. On October 16, 1941, Murrell wrote Eileen a letter and asked him to be his housekeeper. He had purchased a four-room house in Los Angeles. Eileen took a train to Los Angeles, California on January 1st, and Murrell and Eileen were married on January 7, 1942.

They had their first child there in Los Angeles. She was born on April 5, 1943. They named her Kathryn Lynn.

In 1944, Murrell, Eileen, Kathy, and Murrell’s Dad moved back to Colorado where Murrell bought a 240-acre farm from Eileen’s Grandpa Barnes. They both loved living and working on the farm.

On August 6, 1945 (the day the first Atomic Bomb was dropped on Japan), their second daughter, Sharon was born. Eileen was in the hospital in Denver and Murrell was stranded in Franktown because a bridge was washed out. He did get to visit once.

It was during this time on the farm that Kathy lost her hearing as a result of spinal meningitis. Because of Kathy’s hearing loss, Murrell and Eileen had to make a difficult decision. They did not want to send Kathy to a school for the deaf in Colorado Springs, so they decided to sell their farm and move to Denver so that she could stay at home with them and attend a school for the deaf there.

Murrell and Eileen and the girls moved into a house at 1500 South Sheridan with his brother, Elmer, and his family. They farmed the land there. Someone from College View Gospel Chapel came and invited the girls to Sunday School. They began riding the bus to Sunday School and loved it.

Their last daughter, Lorraine was born on August 9, 1950. Eileen was thankful to have 3 girls she could sew for and make beautiful curls in their hair.

The pastor from the church where the girls were going to Sunday School came and asked Eileen, “If I were to ask you if you were saved, what would you say.” She answered “I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Shortly after that, Gene Adams, a young man from the church came to visit Murrell and Eileen. He told them his testimony. He went out in the field and helped Murrell. Gene began to come to their house and visit and eventually started having Bible studies with Murrell, Eileen, Murrell’s brother, Elmer, and his wife, Pauline, and Eileen’s parents. It was about a year before they finally went to church and accepted Christ as their Saviour.

Murrell and Eileen became very involved in church. Kathy took her parents on her bus route to the Evans School for the Deaf and Blind, and they asked the parents if their children could come to Sunday School. Many deaf came to know the Lord as a result. Even now many of the deaf people from that time have stayed faithful to the Lord. Eileen was also very involved in the music at the church and many other areas of service. She and Murrell took the deaf to Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je every summer.

As the girls grew, Murrell and Eileen stayed active in church. They bought a house with a basement, and always had young people over. At College View, they either had everyone at their house singing and playing their instruments, or they were at someone else’s house doing the same. When the deaf came over to play ping pong, there were long pauses where you couldn’t hear the ball…because they were talking with their hands. When Lorraine attended Baptist Bible College in Denver, they often had students over on Sunday afternoons (with big rivalries between the Bronco and Raider fans).

Eileen usually stayed up after everyone else went to bed sewing for her daughters, and later for her granddaughters, and then later for the porcelain dolls she made. She also worked at Lincoln High School in the lunchroom most of the years her daughters were in school there. She then started selling Avon and the customers soon became her friends. She loved people.

When Murrell and Eileen felt that they needed to get Lorraine into a strong Youth Group, they started going to Beth Eden. Eileen was involved in several ministries there. She was a deaconess and was involved in the forward ministry and had the privilege of mentoring several teenage girls there.

After her daughters were out of the house, she took on the project of memorizing the book of James with several others at South Sheridan Baptist Church. She was so surprised and thankful when she had the whole book memorized.

Up until Eileen’s passing on April 8, 2015 at the age of 93, she was extremely independent and active. She had a servant’s heart for others, and she was a virtuous woman. She was greatly loved and will be greatly missed. We know she is ‘Finally Home’ with her Saviour.