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| Rev. William V. Stevens |
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A tribute to the Rev. William V. Stevens 1916-2009
If you got to know Bill Stevens when he was in Belleville as the minister of the Methodist Church, you had to like him. I first saw him walking down Main Street in a light blue suit and straw hat going twice my speed, standing straighter and looking more like a banker than I. I wondered who he was...
I don’t think he was in town more than a month or two before he asked me to join his church (I was a member, so to speak); to give him a bank loan to finance bringing a Christian singer named Merrill Womach to our town (1300 people came to town to hear Womach sing, why…even the merchants were grateful); to guarantee $100 of that loan for him if Womach did not go well (try that with your banker); and to help form a Kiwanis Club. I told him Kiwanis would not work in Belleville as we had the Community Club. He proved me wrong.
He wore me out. To fill our gym for the Merrill Womach program, he and his wife went up to the Madison Library and went through telephone books within 70-80 miles of Belleville and wrote down the church names and addresses and then hand wrote envelopes and invitations to numerous churches.
He wore everyone out just watching him. I later saw him cutting the Church grass and the extra lot with an old hand rotary mower in the same light blue suit and straw hat. He was the most properly dressed lawn mower and Church and Public servant. I gave him an old power mower. He shoveled snow on the Church walk by hand. I gave him my old snow-blower. He typed the Church Bulletin and everything on an old typewriter. I gave him a computer and printer. Don’t know if he ever used the mower, the blower or the computer. What I do know is he had more energy than anyone I knew and he was 30 years older than me.
He served several churches in Wisconsin including Beaver Dam before retirement. In retirement he served Belleville. After Belleville, in his 70’s he served a small North Madison Church scheduled to close. He did not want to be remembered as closing a church. Nearly 80 years of age he begged for an appointment to Stoddard Wisconsin along the Mississippi. I thought the Church sent Bill there to retire. The Stoddard church had no money when Bill arrived and in a couple years had $57,000 in the bank! What could each of us do for our community in comparison?
He was what he believed. He was proud of his faith and his Church. He was the Founding Father of the Belleville Area Cultural Foundation. He directed several meetings until we formed a Foundation that would not fail. He founded the Belleville Chapter of Kiwanis. Kiwanis and BACF – two service groups still serving our community.
You see, he believed we should serve each other. We should contribute something to our community. He expected more from each of us than what we were usually willing to do, and he would do all he could to help us become better servants to our community, and if we did not do our duty, he did it for us.
Bill passed away the end of March. He can’t any longer do for us what we should do for ourselves or for each other,
I can think of no better Memorial to Rev. Bill Stevens and to future generations in Belleville than for all of us to help make the Belleville Area Cultural Foundation a huge success. You can learn how to help and join by going to www.bellevillearts.com or by reading our brochure. Join for Bill’s memory, for you, for your kids, for your neighbors, for your community. Create a Memorial for yourself or a loved one.
Some may think Bill Stevens pushed too hard. Some may think he was too determined. Some may think he expected too much. I think Bill will still be pushing us from up above. He set an example for our community. Bill Stevens will be missed. When God made Bill, He threw away the mold. It will take a lot to fill Bill’s shoes. Maybe together we can all do it!
Gary Bahr
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