Reverend Eddie Stephens, age 88 of Gainesville, Georgia was called from labor on Saturday, May 16, 2009, at Northeast Georgia Medical Center following a brief illness. He was born to the late Arthur James and Pinkie Dowdy Stephens in Arnoldsville, Georgia near Cherokee Corner in Oglethorpe County on March 22, 1921. The twelfth of sixteen children, he was brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord and in the summer of 1930 he was baptized by Reverend Lowe at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Jackson County, Georgia. Even as a child he had experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ and knew that he had a divine calling on his life, and in 1937 at the age of 16 he answered the call to preach. He was married to the former Willie Mae Lott who preceded him in death in 1994. A daughter, Edna Stephens, who perished at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and a great-granddaughter, Gabrielle Stephens, also preceded him in death.
Rev. Stephens was a veteran of The United States Army having served in World War II as a Combat Medic in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. He first saw action during the battle of the Northern Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. In January 1945, he participated in the invasion of Luzon after landing on the beachhead in the Lingayen Gulf. On August 6, 1945 he was an eye witness to the atomic bomb blast that destroyed Hiroshima. After the war, he was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Medal for Bravery with two bronze stars, the Philippine Liberation Medal with one bronze star, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Mr. Stephens was a member of the Antioch Baptist Church and he pastured several area churches including Wahoo Baptist Church, Lumpkin County; Black Spring Baptist Church, Commerce; Flat Creek Baptist Church, Homer; Rogers Chapel Baptist Church, Ila; Zion Hill Baptist Church, Carnesville; and Harmony Grove Baptist Church, Royston. In April of 1960 Reverend Stephens was called to New Hope Franklin Baptist Church in Lavonia, where he served faithfully for 38 years.
Pastor Stephens was deeply rooted in the â
