Passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 3, 2018. Our beloved Alma was born on March 9, 1940, to the late Lacy Cobbs and Minnie Booker in Prospect, Virginia. She grew up in the Pamplin, Virginia area. After high school, she moved to Washington, DC and worked her way through college while living with her older sister, Ethel. She graduated from Howard University with a B.A. in Sociology in 1963, and later earned an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Ball State University. While at Howard, she met her husband, James, who was attending Howard’s dental school. They were married in 1964 and began a journey of military assignments taking them to New York, New Jersey, Germany, Texas, and Maryland, where they finally settled in Columbia. She re-entered the workforce in the Washington, DC Department of Human Services as a residential resource specialist for the mentally disabled, retiring in 2000 after 28 years of service. She enjoyed traveling worldwide and took special pride in the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, the late James L. Stephens, Jr., LTC, U.S. Army (ret), D.D.S. She is survived by her daughter, Stephanie Stephens Murray, M.D. (Demetrious); son, Michael Stephens, Col, U.S. Air Force (ret) (Carolyn); granddaughters Nicole and Jacqueline; grandson Stephen; sisters Ethel (Earl) and Patsy; brothers Claude (Joan), Samuel (Sadie), Alfred, and Freddie (Pattie); sister in law Lula (Franklin); as well as a host of nieces and nephews.
A celebration of her life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, February 16, 2018 at St John Baptist Church, 9055 Tamar Drive, Columbia, MD 21045. The family will receive friends from 12:00 noon until the time of service. Interment will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Howard County Foundation for Black Educational and Cultural Achievement, Inc. (HCFBECA), P.O. Box 69, Columbia, MD 21045, or the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18