David Wayne Stephens

David Wayne Stephens, 76, of Seagrove, North Carolina, passed away on March 2, 2023, at Alpine Health and Rehabilitation in Asheboro, North Carolina. Visitation will be Thursday, March 9, 2023 from 3 – 7 PM and Friday, March 10, 2023 from 10 – 11 AM at Rodenberger-Gray Funeral Home in Napoleon, Ohio. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 on Friday, March 10, 2023 at Rodenberger-Gray Funeral Home in Napoleon, Ohio. A private burial with the family in attendance will follow at the Grelton Cemetery on County Road 7. David was born in Richfield Township, Henry County, Ohio to Wayne and Carmen (Spangler) Stephens on January 16, 1947. He graduated from Malinta-Grelton High School in 1965, where he enjoyed playing on the basketball team and playing checkers with the principal. He married Karen Jean Helberg on November 19, 1967, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Napoleon Township, Ohio. In the early years of marriage, David worked a variety of jobs, including at the GM Powertrain Defiance Foundry, and for a bridge builder, body shop, and home builder, before learning the well drilling trade with Dunbar Well Drilling, Swanton, Ohio. He retired from Ziegenfuss Drilling in 2010. Before moving to North Carolina in 1997, he was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and the Maumee Valley Sportsman Club, both in Malinta, Ohio. He enjoyed woodworking, hunting, fishing, beekeeping, shooting and reloading, gardening, camping, playing cards, and spending time with his dogs. He participated in the Randolph County North Carolina Bee Club for several years. In the 1980s, he and two friends founded a shooting sports 4-H club, the first in Henry County. David was preceded in death by his parents, sister-in-law Charlene “Sue” (Strite) Stephens, sister and brother-in-law Pauline and Bernard Dachenhaus, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Gerhardt “Junior” and Lois (Helberg) Schaper, sister-in-law LouAnn (Helberg) Badenhop, and nieces Kathy Dachenhaus and Diane (Dachenhaus) Jividen. David is survived by his wife Karen; children Kimberly (Jack) Burnham of Bowling Green, OH and Bradly Stephens of Seagrove, NC; brother Albert “Bert” Stephens of McClure, OH; sister Joyce (Stephens) Wright of Sarasota, FL; grandchildren Brittany (Rhoads) Gonzalez and Kruz Stephens; three great-grandsons; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Lillian (Helberg) and Vernon Wachtman, Raymond “Vern” Badenhop, and LeRoy and Ruth Helberg; several nieces and nephews; and devoted canine companion, Pickup. Memorials may be given to the Randolph County NC EMS or St. John’s Lutheran Church in Asheboro, NC. David’s family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the staff of Woodland Hills Rehabilitation Center, Alpine Health and Rehabilitation, and Randolph Health, all in Asheboro, NC, for their care through his long illness. The support of the kind folks at Rodenberger-Gray Funeral Home is also most appreciated.

Tributes

David Wayne Stephens

January 16, 1947 - March 2, 2023