Lawson Roy "Steve" Stevens was born in Birmingham England in 1932 and grew up in London where he was an avid steam train and cricket fan. Influenced by his Uncle Fred, he was also a life long Aston Villa Football Club fanatic. Lawson loved to recall his years growing up in London; in particular as WW II approached at age 7, he and his 5 year old brother, Malcolm, were packed off with gas masks and a small suitcase along with thousands of London school children to the countryside to live with willing strangers who took in the London refugees for safety from London bombings. Later they were fortunate to be living on a small farm in Wales with a caring Welsh family with a garden, chickens and rabbits. Although he had a wonderful life with plenty to explore and eat, he also remembers being traumatized when he had to recite the Beatitudes in Welch before the entire local church congregation. At 11 Lawson returned home in London to advance to the next level of education. The war became very real when he experienced the V2 nighttime bombings over London sleeping under a metal bomb shelter. He suffered from severe asthma from the London industrial fog, so at age 16 his parents emigrated to California. He enrolled at St. Jose State University. His U.S. Army draft notice arrived days after his graduation in 1953; as an Army Military Policeman, he was sent to Germany and was a member of "the white mice". This was the Highway Patrol who drove white sedans patrolling the highways, byways, towns and villages in Bavaria during the post war years. He married Angela in Germany with whom he had three children. After 3 years he completed his enlistment as a Sergeant E-5 and returned to California to complete his Masters degree in Mathematics while working nightshift as a wind tunnel computer operator for NASA. He returned to Germany in 1960 seeking a job in the European theater and successfully found one as a civilian computer programmer with the U.S. Army in Giesen, Germany. In 1964 he transferred to Orleans, France where he led the computer business systems development project to combine automated management of all Army assets in the Europe into a single large scale system. When the Americans left France his organization relocated to Zweibrucken, Germany where he continued his efforts completely automating Army logistics management. The Army was very advanced at utilizing computers for enterprise level projects during the Cold War era. In 1970, he became the Technical Director for the Army Computer Systems Command, responsible for all software and operations for U.S Army computer systems in the European theater. In the 1980's he oversaw the management and development for automating the transportation tracking of material arriving into Europe which improved the visibility and efficiency using state-of-the-art technology. His publication on structured software development was a groundbreaking innovation at this time for designing and developing software systems. It was the forerunner for establishing software development as a disciplined engineering process. In Zweibrucken, he met and married his wife Patricia, who worked in the computer field as well. They enjoyed 20 happy years together in Europe enjoying common interests - downhill skiing, running, travel, hiking, and collecting antiques. They lovingly renovated a small charming villa with a sandstone carving over the front door, "Trotz Allem 1934", "In spite of Everything". Lawson always said, "People are interesting". People from every walk in life had a life story to tell. He took an interest in everyone he met and enjoyed hearing their story. For this reason he was highly respected not only as a Technical Director and mentor, but also by people he met traveling through life. He was a true English Gentleman in so many ways. They had a son, Patrick, in 1985 which made retiring from his position in 1988 much easier as he now had time to become "Mr. Mom". Speaking fluent German enabled him to become an active parent within the German school and participate in social circles. As the U. S. Military drew down forces in Europe, Steve and his wife, Pat, decided to return to the U.S. In 1994 Patricia found a position at Fort Knox. They settled into Elizabethtown community and attended St. James Catholic Church. Lawson became involved in several St. James's School activities and later St. Vincent de Paul Society charity. At Elizabethtown High School he was involved in school committees and supported the Academic team. Lawson was a relentless genealogist, tracking down and documenting both his own and Pat's family histories. He also loved to write and several of his articles were published in British and U.S. periodicals. As a result he found connections to interesting people across the globe who shared his WWII background experiences or family history. Many became pen pals who continued corresponding with him for decades. Lawson is preceded in death by his parents Reginald and Margaret and his younger brother, Malcolm, whom he thought about every single day of his life. He is survived by his loving wife, Patricia and four children all who were the pride of his life; Janet McBride, Bamberg, Germany and three grandchildren, Julie, Andrew and Eva, and great-granddaughter Mina; Malcolm "Herbie" and wife Giesela Bamberg, Germany and granddaughter Christina; Thomas, Erlangen, Germany and grandchildren Sara and Finn; and Patrick, Chattanooga, Tn and wife, Megan and three grandchildren, Avery, Bram, and Callum and kind thoughtful nephews Jeffrey and Philip Stevens. Condolences can be left at brownfuneral.com . A private family gathering will be held at a later date. The family asks for your prayers. Donations to St. Vincent DePaul or any local food bank would honor his memory.

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