Obituary: Richard Bruce Stevens, 84, of Wallingford

WALLINGFORD, CT - (From Wallingford Funeral Home) Richard Bruce Stevens, known by all as Rich or Richie, was born on December 7, 1936 in Stamford, Connecticut, to Robert Kenneth and Catherine Kanengeser Stevens.

His mother was raised in Wallingford and his father was raised in nearby Clintonville. After moving to Stamford the Kenneth Stevens family spent much leisure time with relatives in and around Wallingford, Clintonville, and North Haven.

Rich graduated from Stamford High School in 1954 and in 1957 married Geraldine Fennick, his sweetheart from high school. In 1958 daughter Lisa was born, and in 1960 daughter Laurie was added to the family.

Rich worked for a time in his father’s garage and service station on Richmond Hill Avenue in Stamford, and later struck out on his own by operating a Chevron garage and service station on Summer Street in Stamford.

Rich eventually bought that station from Chevron and renamed the business Auto Medics.

Rich enlarged the building to have four repair bays, a large parts room, and an office. Rich had several dedicated employees that were with him for many years at Auto Medics. During those years Rich sponsored a rec-league baseball team and worked with his daughter Lisa on capturing, treating, and releasing urban feral cats.

Twenty years ago Rich sold the Auto Medics building to an adjacent property owner and retired after nearly 50 years in the auto repair business. Eventually Rich bought ten acres of wooded land in North Stonington, Connecticut and spent several years improving and clearing the center of the property to build a fine custom home for his and Gerri’s retirement years.

The new home included an oversize three-bay garage for Rich to continue his hobby of owning and maintaining racing cars, including stock cars and midget racers. Rich and several friends enjoyed participating in a regional stock-car racing circuit and many weekends were spent at tracks all over New England.

In retirement Rich also developed a hobby of woodcarving and created many fine carvings of butterflies and ducks that were entered in and placed well at competitions in New England and on the Eastern Seaboard as far away as Maryland. Rich also raised homing pigeons for a while in North Stonington.

In 2017 Rich and Gerri bought a home in Parrish, Florida to be near their two daughters already living in Florida and to enjoy the more temperate climate. The home in Parrish has five garage bays in which Rich planned to continue to enjoy the hobby of working with racing cars. He also looked forward to driving the midgets on slow-speed senior-circuit tracks in Florida.

Unfortunately, Rich suffered some consequential health issues in Florida and never could further work with the midgets and the self-built “Currycraft” two-seater he and his friend Jim Curry had built in Stamford many years ago. Rich had recently donated the Currycraft and it now resides among the remarkable automobile collection at the Elliott Museum in Stuart, Florida.

Rich became very ill in early fall this year, and succumbed to pneumonia while trying to regain his strength as a patient at a fine care facility in Bradenton, Florida.

He unexpectedly passed away there in his sleep the morning of October 9, 2021 at the age of 84.

Rich is survived by his wife Gerri and their daughters Laurie and Lisa and Lisa’s husband Bill Hevesy, his sister Karen and Karen’s husband Ron Borg of Salt Lake City, Utah, and by extended family members in Connecticut and other states.