Dorothy L. Stevens

Memorial visitation for Dorothy L. Stevens, 93, of Lake Zurich formerly of Cary and Chicago, will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 10:00 am until the time of the Memorial Service at 11:00 am at the Ahlgrim Family Funeral Home, 415 S. Buesching Rd., Lake Zurich.

Dorothy was an intelligent, unusual woman, avid reader, and life long learner; although she was often stymied by the practical requirements of life and mundane necessities slipped by her without notice.  She was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, daughter of Emma and Hugh Jones Sr.  She and her older brother, Hugh Jones Jr., weathered many difficult times.  When she was a toddler, her mother contracted tuberculosis and eventually had to move to a tuberculosis sanitarium.  Her father was able to manage for a while with hired help, however, when the depression hit in the 1930s, he lost his business and his ability to handle the situation.  Dorothy and her brother moved in with their mother’s Danish born parents, the Hansen’s.  These experiences stayed fresh in her mind her entire life.

An excellent student, Dorothy graduated among the top of her class at Lindblom High School and received a scholarship to the University of Chicago.  She only attended one year because paying street car fare to get to campus was a financial hardship for her family.  She then took a chemistry class at Northwestern that qualified her to work in laboratories during and after World War II.  A prized memory for her was a cruise to Cuba and Central America on a banana boat that she took with her cousin Lois Hansen Bell, her good friend and partner in crime with whom she shared many interests.  She married fellow south sider, Jack (Mick) Stevens and together they had four children.  Her husband developed heart problems, so as a mother of three young children, she returned to college, earned her undergraduate degree, and worked toward her master’s degree.

In the mid 1960’s her family moved to rural Lake County.  This took some adjusting, but she enjoyed experimenting with raising geese and chickens and expanding her gardening skills.  Among her favorite things to cultivate were all varieties of day lilies, but she also planted perennials, rock gardens, succulents and bulbs.  Later in life, she gradually turned her daughter Christine’s entire yard into a garden.  When giving tours of the garden, she would point out the many plants that were chosen because the name of their variety reminded her of a grandchild’s or great grandchild’s name. We encourage you to plant some flowers in your garden to remember Dorothy by.

For a time Dorothy worked as a free lance reporter for a local paper.  Writing was an important part of her life.  She expressed her thoughts in articles, journal writing, memoirs, essays, poetry, and letters to the editor.  Over the years, she was part of many organizations:  she was a Girl Scout leader, a Junior Great Books leader, part of the Women’s League of Voters, the ACLU, the McHenry County Society of Friends (Quakers), and many writing groups.  As a person who took her civic duty seriously, she was very proud to serve as an election judge.  She was passionate about politics from the smallest school board election to state, national, and global issues and participated in many an intense debate—sometimes surprising those who knew her with which side she defended.  Whether thinking about people in general or people she knew in her life, she often rooted for and took up the cause of the underdog.

In the 1970’s, the untimely death of her 21 year old son, Michael, followed a year later by her husband’s, shook Dorothy to the core.

Dorothy was grandmother to Cheryll Sorensen, Nora (Rob) Hyde, Melissa Gordon, Jack (Alyssa) Gordon, Jake Lewandowski, Tom Lewandowski, Helen Lewandowski, and Sophie Lewandowski.  As the grandmother of eight, great grandmother of seven, great-great grandmother of one, aunt of five, and great aunt of 12, she was always ready to celebrate the unique individuality of each child.

After living with her eldest daughter for 30 years, Dorothy moved to Cedar Lake Assisted Living. She participated in crafts, trivia games, card games, jigsaw puzzles, scrabble, and history discussions and was kind and quick to comfort fellow residents experiencing distress from memory issues.

Dorothy passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.  She will always be remembered by her family, but especially by her three daughters and their partners:  Christine (the late Dennis) Gordon, Patricia (Gregory) Baumann, and Elizabeth (Jim) Lewandowski, as well as her loving sister-in-law, Valerie (the late Roy) Lundgren.

In lieu of flowers, memorials appreciated to JourneyCare Hospice, 405 Lake Zurich Rd., Barrington, IL, 60010.