Margaret Adele West Stephens

Margaret Adele West Stephens, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend, died peacefully, surrounded by the love of her family on October 6, 2026. Born on December 28, 1938, to Vera Florence (Coupe) West and DeForest Frank West, she was raised in Wadsworth, Ohio, where she graduated from Wadsworth High School, played the glockenspiel in the marching band, and worked on the yearbook staff. During her Wadsworth years, she also worked at the iconic Strand movie theatre and at Apple Creek State Hospital. During her youth, she loved summering in Nebraska with her grandparents.

Music lived in her heart for a lifetime. She sang in the church choir and played the piano, filling her world, and the lives of those who loved her, with song. She also loved volunteering at her church and cherished her church community.

Margaret's love of learning led her to earn a BA in English from Hiram College and a master's and doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, where her thesis was titled “Mysticism in the Works of Emily Jane Brontë.” Her college years studying abroad at the University of Aberdeen began a lifelong love affair with Britain.

She shared her love of learning as a college English professor at the University of Akron and Kent State University Stark campus, where she touched the lives of thousands of students over many years, making each one feel valued and heard.

Margaret's love story with John Thomas Stephens began on Easter Sunday, 1965, with dinner and a showing of Mary Poppins on their first date. By Memorial Day weekend, she was meeting his family on the 150-acre family farm in West Virginia. On October 9, 1965, in her favorite month of the year, they were married at the Wadsworth Methodist Church and honeymooned at Oglebay Park in Wheeling, West Virginia, a place so dear to them that they returned every year with their children, grandchildren, and family friends for over 40 years.

In 1966, a son was born to them, full-term but stillborn, and he remained in their hearts. Their family grew with the births of daughters Megan Jane and Bronwyn Jean in 1967 and 1968. In 1969, they moved from Barberton to “Westaways” in Bath, Ohio, and in 1971 their family was completed with the birth of daughter Gwenan Joan.

Beyond the classroom, Margaret gave her heart to her daughters and the girls of her Bath community as a Brownie and Girl Scout leader and as a girls' softball coach for grades 3 through 6.

Margaret and John shared a devoted marriage of almost 55 years until his passing on October 1, 2020.

Together they treasured their adventures, from Alaska to Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland, and especially their trips to visit their children and grandchildren in Colorado and Oregon. The family's memories are filled with road trips crisscrossing the continent.

Margaret's heart was always with the people and places she loved, and she delighted in surrounding herself with pictures of both. She had a cherished collection of penguins and scissors, a love of VW bugs, Rummikub, and Country Maid Ice Cream, and a soft spot for Hallmark movies because they always have happy endings.

Her kitchen was an act of love, and her famous spaghetti sauce and French chocolate silk pie were favorites she made for her family. Her sayings, such as “it all goes back to your toilet training” and “it never hurts to ask,” will be repeated by those who loved her for years to come. “It all goes back to your toilet training” was her wry way of saying that who we are begins with our earliest lessons, and that most things in life can be traced back to their roots. She said it with a smile that helped everyone take life, and themselves, a little less seriously. “It never hurts to ask” was more than a saying; it was how Margaret lived, with curiosity and a gentle courage. It reassured her family, her students, and her friends that it was always safe to ask the questions, seek the answers, and hope that the answer just might be yes.

One of her family's favorite memories is of Margaret's 65th birthday at Der Fondue Chessel, perched at 11,000 feet atop Keystone's North Peak, when she stood on her chair and twirled her cloth napkin in the air to the music of the polka band, filling the room with her joy.

In October 2024, her favorite month once again, Margaret's heart overflowed with joy when she met her first great-grandchild, Oumar. That day was a treasured gift, and the love she felt for him was written all over her face.

Margaret held her friendships for a lifetime. She was famous for her annual Christmas cards and family updates, a tradition that kept friends and loved ones close no matter the distance.

Above all, Margaret was kind and caring, with a gentle heart. Even on life's hardest days, she found a way to smile. She listened with her whole heart, and she made everyone around her feel valued, heard, and loved.

Margaret was preceded in death by her husband, John T. Stephens; her son; her mother and father; and her sister, Elizabeth.

She will be dearly missed by her three daughters, Megan Morgan and partner Kurtis Hammann of Silverthorne, CO; Bronwyn Houston and husband Tyler of Wilsonville, OR; and Gwenan Poirier and husband Greg of Arvada, CO; six grandchildren, Emily Morgan and husband Abdoulaye Kaba, Grant Morgan, Riley Houston and wife Chloe, Sydney Houston, George Poirier, and Blu Poirier; her first great-grandchild, Oumar, son of Emily and Abdoulaye; and her baby brother Dennis and his wife Joan.

The family will gather in love and gratitude to celebrate Margaret's life in late spring or early summer of 2027, and details will be updated. The family asks that any memorial donations be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Margaret lived at Western Reserve Masonic Community for the last six years. With deep gratitude, the family thanks the compassionate staff there, at Reserve Care Hospice, and at Hospice of Medina for the care and kindness they showed Margaret and her family.

Margaret's kindness, her smile, and her gentle heart will live on in everyone she loved and in everyone who loved her.

Services in care of the Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory, Fairlawn Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. Fairlawn, OH 44333.