Obituary of John Stevens

John Stevens died suddenly and unexpectedly at home on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. John was born on June 28, 1939 in Litherland, Lancashire, UK to James Edward and Mabel (Horrigan) Stevens. He attended Litherland Secondary Modern School, and was hired at age 15 by the University of Liverpool as a laboratory technician. There, he worked in the Chemistry Department and the Surface Science Research Centre until he retired in 1989 and moved to Boalsburg, PA, USA. Since 1990, John worked mainly at Penn State University as a research technician in the Chemistry and Physics departments. He was widely regarded for his technical expertise, and one of his special talents was producing perfect single crystal surfaces for detailed studies of their properties. John was universally popular with colleagues, friends and students for his cheerful optimism. John is survived by his wife Renee Diehl of Boalsburg, with whom he had a full and happy life for 30 years in the UK and the US. He was very proud of his daughters Donna (David Goodfellow) of London UK and Tracey (Yiannis Janetis) of Wigan UK and son Mark (Ian Giles) of London UK and his four grandchildren, Sophie, Flora and Fred Goodfellow and Tom Janetis. He also is survived by two brothers James and Donald Stevens. John was active in many pursuits including running, fell walking, bicycling and squash. He belonged to numerous organizations to support walking, hiking and cycling trails. He ran marathons while living in England, did many long-distance cycling tours with his wife Renee in the US, UK and Finland. Together, they walked both the Coast-to-Coast path and the Cumbrian Way through the UK Lake District in the past few years. John remained active to the end of his life, having played squash the evening before the day of his death. John had a keen interest in pubs, beer and brewing. Contributions to remember him may be made to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) http://www.camra.org.uk/make-a-donation. A gathering to remember John and enjoy some beer will be held in the small bar of Otto's Pub and Brewery on Sunday, March 13 at 3PM. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com