Lee Spencer Stephens
Lee Spencer Stephens left us before dawn on April 4th, 1948 when his automobile collided with the rear of a pipe truck on the Abqaiq Road.
Funeral Services were held in the Dhahran Auditorium at 4pm on April 5 in the true fraternity manner, with Mr. M. L. Luckenbaugh, Past Master of McKinley Lodge #347 (Richmond, California) as Master; Mr. Jack G. Hosmer, of McKinley Lodge #347 (Richmond, California), as Senior Warden; Mr. George T. Vivian, Past Master of Antioch Lodge (Antioch, California) as Chaplain.
Pallbearers were: Mr. Eric Johnson, Mr. Harry G. Stone, Mr. Herbert Narsworthy, Mr. Willis Snow, Mr. Richard Orbek, Mr. James W. Pelley, Mr. Walter Wood, and Mr. Bert S. Halschein.
Soloist was fraternity brother Captain Jacobus Lems, of McKinley Lodge #347 (Richmond, California). Mrs. Richard C. Kerr, at the piano.
The services ended with these fraternal words "--to the lasting glory of a brighter and better land."
Interment was in the Dhahran Christian Cemetery, with fraternity brothers officiating. Mr. Wilson Ford, Funeral Director.
Lee Spencer Stephens was born on May 5, 1916, In Birmingham, Alabama; he was single and last resided in Eneley, Alabama, where his Mother and Father still maintain residence. Lee's last assignment here was Field Office Manager for IBI in Abqaiq. From 1944 to 1946 he was working with Bechtel in Ras Tanura on SARP (Saudi Arab Refinery Project); Lee returned to Saudi Arabia on April 27, 1947.
Lee Stephens was known to a vast number of Aramco personnel as well as IBI; on Sunday voices were raised in praise of the good work he did both on his first contract and when he returned. It was the small things he did beyond his job that stuck in the memory of many ... he remembered everything and always went out of his way to please everyone.
The services on Monday afternoon were a fitting tribute; from Ras El Mishaab, Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, and Dhahran fellow workers and friends gathered to pay their respects.
Sun and Flare