May Speer Stephens was born on July 24, 1939, in Ankara, Turkey, and passed away in her adopted hometown of Conroe, Texas on March 31, 2025. May was the daughter of Ray Speer, a career United States Foreign Service Officer, and Gertrude Speer (née Birnbaum), a native of Vienna, Austria. May was four months shy of her 86th birthday at the time of her death.
Following her high school graduation in Kitsap County, Washington, May met and married Charles Lacy Stephens, who was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and served nearby at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard. In 1958, following his Honorable Discharge from the Marines, the young couple returned to Charles’ hometown of Houston, Texas, where they would raise their two sons, William Dennis and Randall Wayne.
The spirited young couple were never tied down, and their adventures saw them move to Flagstaff, Arizona, Hawthorne, California, Edmonds, Washington, Conroe, Texas, Mukilteo, Washington, and finally settling down in Conroe, where their sons would graduate from Conroe High School.
Having traveled the world as a child, May was never intimidated by the thought of resettling her family in a new town or a new state, and her ‘can do’ spirit made the moves manageable. Decades before the advent of the computer, May managed to find new homes, enroll her sons in new schools, open bank accounts, and find new doctors and dentists. May’s boldness made the tasks seem effortless. She was a Petticoat pilot, reporter for the Conroe Courier, and handled new accounts at Allied Conroe Bank over the course of her career.
May was a member of the First Methodist Church of Conroe, where she rejoiced as a member of the church choir and her beloved Pathfinders Class. May enjoyed politics and was an active member of the Montgomery County Republican Women’s Club. Perhaps the highlight of her political pastime was attending the 1984 inaugural ball for President Ronald Reagan. She was a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a faithful volunteer at the Book Nook run by Friends of the Conroe Library.
May was preceded in death by her first husband of 43 years Charles, second husband of 10 years Alba Etie, and grandson Robert Bowling Stephens. May is survived by her brother, Robert Schadler and his wife Elaine of Washington, D.C., eldest son Dennis and his wife Carie Stephens of Falls Church, Virginia, grandsons Charlie (Elizabeth) and Jasper Stephens, granddaughters Charity (Nate) Villegas, Hazel, America, Lacy, and Dixie Stephens, great-granddaughter Lily Villegas, and her youngest son Randy, also of Falls Church.
The family wishes to extend their heartfelt thanks to Conroe Health Care Center and New Age Hospice for their excellent care.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday April 16, 2025, at 10:00 am at First Methodist Conroe, 4308 W. Davis Street, with a visitation beginning at 9:15 am.
