Edward Elza Lee Stephens, age 75, of Orangeville, Texas, passed peacefully from this life on Saturday, November 28, 2015 at Texoma Medical Center. Ed demonstrated true grit in his seven-month battle with infections. Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, December 2 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow in Whitewright, with Frazier Conley of the Whitewright Church of Christ and Charles Wrenn of the Leonard Church of Christ officiating. Visitation will be 5:30 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, December 1, at the funeral home. Burial will follow at a later date at Pleasant Valley Cemetery near Brinkley, Arkansas.

Ed was born June 22, 1940 near Brinkley, Arkansas in the same room in the same house where his mother was born. He was the eldest of eleven children of James Lee Stephens and Ethel Magdaline Ellis Stephens. Ed was followed by five sisters, then five brothers. Ed married Oneta Shreves on September 3, 1959. He married Jane Ellington Priddy on May 22, 1982.

Ed worked as a long-haul truck driver, a sales manager, and a farrier before retiring from OK Feed in Whitewright to spend time taking care of the farm at Orangeville. Ed demonstrated horseshoeing skills at Loy Lake Park in Sherman and at Old City Park in Dallas. He was the subject of an episode of “8 Country Reporter,” and he appeared as “Texas Past” in a Dallas Semiconductor advertising poster comparing Texas then and now.
Ed had great confidence in “the Man Upstairs” and in His Son Jesus Christ. Ed enjoyed playing bluegrass on the guitar, banjo, and mandolin, watching old Westerns, and watching NASCAR, especially Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In his younger days, Ed boxed in gloves. He was a home-loving man. Ed’s menagerie over the years included not only horses, dogs, and cats, but also a trained pet goose and a pet turkey. He will be missed by his Miniature Pomeranians, Rocky and Lola.

Ed was preceded by his parents, his first wife Oneta Shreves Springfield, his son Donnie Stephens, his sister Opal Rhew, and his brother Dan Stephens. Ed is survived by his wife Jane, son Jim Stephens of Dallas, daughter Linda Knowles of Dallas, and son Ed Stephens, Jr. (Dawn) of Morehead, Kentucky, as well as grandchildren Ricky Thompson (Flora), Amy Hall, Anthony Stephens, Jaclyn Stephens, Jesse Stephens, Lindsay Fontanillas, Ed Stephens III, and Tiffani Jane Stephens. Ed is survived by eight great-grandchildren. Ed is also survived by sisters Christine Lakey, Mae Rodgers, Faye Tabor, and Louise Burnett and by brothers Ray Stephens, Al Stephens, Jerry Stephens, and Doug Stephens. He has one surviving aunt, Bessie Ellis Sitzes.