Former Boys & Girls Club leader dies after accident

Nov. 28--Maury County community leader John Stephens died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a Monday car accident in Columbia.

The former executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maury County was 81. He was one of the club's founding board members in 1999.

"John was passionately dedicated to growing the club and its mission in Maury County," Boys & Girls Clubs CEO Robyn Peery wrote to board members Tuesday night, telling them of Stephens' death.

Stephens served as the club's chairman of the board and came out of retirement in 2006 to step in as executive director, volunteering for the job with no salary.

"What was meant to be a 12-18 month arrangement turned into seven years of 12-hour days, trying to give kids in this community the opportunity for a great future," Peery wrote. "John retired in 2013 at the age of 76."

The Kiwanis Club of Columbia member was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tennessee Hall of Fame in 2013 in recognition for his dedication and service to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maury County.

"I could say so much more about his passion and dedication to this mission, but I will just leave it at this -- there likely wouldn't be a BGC Maury County today without John Stephens," Peery wrote.

Club kids loved to challenge the former business executive to games of pingpong.

"He could regularly be found in the game room on Friday afternoons, making kids smile with his fierce skills," Peery said. "He was equally at home, sitting across from a major investor and passionately telling them how the club is changing lives."

The former owner and CEO of Columbia Plastics was a mentor to his successor Chris Poynter, now athletic director for Maury County Schools, and Peery.

"He will be deeply missed," Peery wrote.

Stephens was a recipient of the prestigious national Points of Light Award in 2000 for his efforts to improve the lives of Maury County citizens. The honor has only been bestowed upon 5,000 individuals from across the country to date. This honor is awarded to individuals who find innovative ways to meet community needs through efforts which often lead to long-term solutions and impact social problems in their local communities.

In addition to his work at the Boys & Girls Clubs, Stephens also was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Columbia NAACP chapter, Volunteer of the Year Award from the Maury County Alliance and the 1997 Sam Walton Business Leader Award.

Stephens served on the boards of the Workforce Development of South Central Tennessee, Mediation Center, Sigma Phi Epsilon Tennessee Alpha Scholarship Foundation, Sigma Phi Epsilon Tennessee Alpha Housing Corporation and the Tennessee Senior Olympics. He was a past Chairman of the Board of the Columbia State Community College Foundation, Vice-Chairman of the Board for Columbia Power and Water Systems, and Chairman of the Maury County Chamber of Commerce.

In recent years, Stephens volunteered to help the Heimermann Children's Choir raise awareness and recruit singers in Maury County.

Stephens' wife, died in April 2017 at age 77. They were married 53 years and had three children, Amy, Jennifer and Eric.

Funeral services will be arranged by Heritage Funeral Home. They were incomplete as of Tuesday night.

Stephens suffered injuries in a two-car accident at 2:48 p.m. Monday, Columbia Fire & Rescue reported. The incident occurred near Carters Creek Pike and Nashville Highway. Both cars went off the road and into a field.

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