Obituary of Robert "Bob" John Stevens

Robert “Bob” John Stevens, 87, died on August 2, 2023, at Artis Senior Living in Woodbury, Minnesota. Bob was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 30, 1936.

Bob grew up in St. Paul. He was the third oldest of ten children. He attended Catholic grade school and Catholic high school. Bob graduated in 1954 and, shortly after graduating, entered New Melleray Abbey in Iowa to become a Cistercian monk. He was ordained a priest in April 1962. Bob left the monastery in 1966. He moved to Los Angeles where he worked for Social Security and started his career as a computer systems analyst and programmer.

In 1970, Bob married Darlene Olchefske, in St. Paul. They had two children, Anne and Sara. Bob and Darlene’s marriage ended in 1979, and, in 1989, Bob and Elaine Shriver were married.

In the mid-1970’s Bob renewed his interest in playing the saxophone. He joined the Macalester College concert band and the Inver Hills Community College concert band. He was a member of both bands for 25 years. Bob also was a dedicated member of Alcoholics Anonymous. In 2022, he proudly received recognition for having 45 years of sobriety.

Bob loved learning languages. His textbooks at New Melleray were written in Latin. He learned French while he was at the monastery and, in 1964, he translated a 297-page book on monastic spirituality from French to English. He interviewed Social Security applicants in Spanish as part of his job in Los Angeles. In the 1990’s he joined a group that read Dante in Italian, and, after Bob retired in 2000, he took classes at St. Thomas University to learn German.

Bob is survived by his wife of 34 years, Elaine Shriver, of Inver Grove Heights, his children, Anne Stevens of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Sara Stevens of St. Paul, his granddaughters, Bess Stevens and Sean Stevens of St. Paul, his wife’s son, Gus Tejeda (Sara) of Celina, Texas, and children Justin of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Alexandra of Celina, Texas, and by his former spouse, Darlene Stevens, of St. Paul. He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Helen Stevens and by his brother, James, and his wife, Joan, and by his brother, Patrick, and his wife, Irene Taddiken, and by his brother-in-law, George Lamb. He is survived by 7 siblings: Cecilia Lamb of Rochester, Joe (Florida) of St. Paul, John (Christine) of St. Paul, Helena Byrne (Ted) of Cannon Falls, Chris (Sue) of Inver Grove Heights, Anne Stevens (Niels Billund) of St. Paul, and Kate Adams (Curt) of Minneapolis, and by many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A visitation will be held on Friday, August 25, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 3rd Avenue South, in Minneapolis, with a funeral mass at 11:00 a.m., lunch at 12:00 p.m. and interment in the Peace Garden at St. Joan of Arc after lunch.

The family wishes to give special thanks to the nurses and care partners at Artis Senior Living and at Gentiva Hospice for their compassionate care of Bob.

Memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association are preferred.