On Thursday, May 29, 2025, Thomas Joe Stephens was called home to Jesus at the age of 82.
He was born May 18, 1943, in Tulsa, to John Franklin Stephens, Sr. and Ina Avanale Lee Stephens. He graduated from Sapulpa High School in 1961 and became the first person in his family to attend college, obtaining an associates degree from Connors State College, a bachelor’s in agriculture education and minor in science, and a master’s in agriculture education, both from Oklahoma State University.
In the summer of 1968, Joe was drafted into the United States Army and served his full enlistment in Korea. Following his military service, he began his teaching career throughout northeast Oklahoma, first in science, then as an administrator, and finally his ultimate goal, as an ag teacher.
Joe married Kathey Maxine Thomas Qualls on August 23, 1980. In 1981, Joe was offered the opportunity to start a new FFA Chapter in Bristow, OK, which he accepted. Joe and Kathey moved to Bristow that summer, and in November 1981 welcomed their only child, Jodi K’tae Stephens.
As an ag teacher and FFA Advisor, Joe was well-known across the state for his tremendous success coaching teams, public speakers, and livestock showmen. An exceptional classroom teacher, he was previously named Bristow Public Schools Teacher of the Year, with the ag building he built bearing the name “Joe Stephens Vo-Ag Center.”
While his professional passion was teaching ag, his personal passion was team roping. He enjoyed the comradery as much as the competition of the sport. Over the course of six decades, Joe won Champion Heeler titles year after year, accumulating countless belt buckles and trophy saddles, which are now the prized possessions of many family members and roping partners across Oklahoma. Joe won his final Champion Heeler title at the age of 79.
He is survived by his wife Kathey Stephens, daughter Jodi Stephens Lewis and husband David Lewis, grandsons Bauer Lewis and Beckham Lewis, sister Joy Ward, sister-in-law Evelyn Stephens, brothers-inlaw Eldon Horton and Gene Parker, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents John and Ina Stephens, brother John F. Stephens, Jr., sisters Patty Parker and Glenda Horton, and brother-in-law Coy Ward.
Visitation, with family present, was Monday, June 2, 2025, from 5– 8 p.m. at Hutchins-Maples Matherly Funeral Home in Bristow. Services were held on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Bristow, with burial to follow at Green Hill Cemetery in Sapulpa.
Arrangements are under the direction of Hutchins-Maples Matherly Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Bristow FFA Alumni Association, which Joe founded in 1981.
A special thanks to St. Francis Hospice for their exceptional care of Joe and his
family.