The Rev. Dr. Bob Stebbins

The Rev. Dr. Bob Stebbins, avid traveler, inspiring educator, dedicated family man, and lover of life, died at the Hospice Compassionate Care Center in Richmond, Kentucky, on 17 June 2014, aged 82.

Robert E. Stebbins was born in Lima, Ohio, on 28 July 1931 to Charles F. and Velma J. Stebbins. After graduation from Lima Central High School he earned a B.A. in history from Bowling Green State University (Ohio) in 1953. He received his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, was forthwith ordained and accepted into the Methodist ministry on 3 June 1956, and continued academic work at the University of Minnesota, earning a Ph.D. in modern European history in 1960. During the first two years of this doctoral work (1956-58), he worked as program secretary and student minister at the University of Minnesota YMCA/YWCA and regularly supplied the pulpit at the Methodist Church in New Richmond, Wisconsin. In 1958-59 he moved on to serve as part-time interim assistant minister at the Mayflower Congregational Church in Minneapolis.

The Rev. Mr. Stebbins was going through much theological searching during these years, and 1959 he withdrew from the Methodist ministry, seeking and receiving Universalist ministerial fellowship the same year. While studying for his Ph.D., he served as the executive director for Tri-U, a Unitarian Universalist student group at the University of Minnesota from 1959 to 1961. Dr. Stebbins taught European history at Eastern Kentucky State College from 1963 until his retirement in 2000.

Bob Stebbins was one of the founders of the Madison County UU Fellowship in 1978, and remained an active member of the congregation for the rest of his life, most often drawing upon his ministerial background as program chair for the lay led congregation.

Robert enjoyed traveling, and explored all seven continents; he followed a ritual of climbing to the highest point of each destination. He was an avid tennis player, and played until the age of seventy-eight. Friends and colleagues recall his “rational perspective” and sense of humor.

Robert’s family members fondly remember his “general delight in living,” and the love he had for his wife and three daughters. His wife, Ann Stebbins, noted, “He encouraged me to reach a potential I did not know I had. He helped me lead a life I did not know I could.”

He is survived by his wife, K. Ann Stebbins; daughters, Susan Stebbins Collins, Beth Ann Stebbins, and Kara Lynn Stebbins; granddaughter Emily Stebbins; grandson Russell Brown; sister Ruth Raines; nephew Blake Raines (Rei-fung Raines) and grand-niece, Karlene Raines.

A Celebration of Life was held on June 21, 2014 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Madison County, in Richmond, Kentucky.

Notes of condolence may be sent to Ann Stebbins at 208 College View Dr., Richmond, Kentucky 40475.