Louis was born July 31, 1929, in Michigan City, Indiana, to Dr. Louis Stephenson and Clara Haubold Stephenson. He was the youngest of three children and the only son. Although his father’s medical practice kept the family in the city during the school year, Louis spent unfettered childhood summers on a farm in southern Indiana. It was there he first developed his lifelong interest in agriculture and animal husbandry.
He graduated from Isaac C. Elston High School in Michigan City in 1947. He attended Indiana University for one year, majoring in pre-med, and then transferred to Purdue University. He graduated from Purdue in 1951 with a bachelor’s of science degree in animal husbandry. After graduation, he went to work at Pinney-Purdue farm, an agricultural research center.
Louis was in the United States Army from 1952 until 1953, serving in Korea at the 38th Parallel and working as a chaplain’s assistant and pharmacy technician until the armistice.
Upon his discharge from the Army, he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, and went to work for Red Poll Cattle Company where he wrote for, edited and published The Red Poll News. He met Gwendolyn Malone on a blind date in 1955, set up by a mutual friend. They were married April 1, 1956, in Prairie Home, Nebraska. They had four children.
In 1957, Louis accepted a job with Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service, and the couple, along with their 3-week-old daughter, moved to Trinidad, Colorado. He worked as a county agent and Extension editor for CSU for 33 years, retiring in 1990. Throughout his career, he had posts in Fairplay, Salida, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins. While with the Extension Service, he earned a master of education degree in 1965 and was instrumental in starting the Colorado State Fair Dog Show and creating the Extension Fact Sheet program.
After retiring from CSU, Louis worked as a herd tester for Dairy Herd Improvement Association until 2006 and as volunteer coordinator for SAINT, Senior Alternatives in Transportation, from 1991 until 2007. He continued to volunteer as a driver for SAINT for several more years.
Louis was a voracious reader and lifelong student of history; he was particularly interested in stories about the Civil War, World War II, and the American West. He liked woodworking, tending to his yard, bike riding (which he enjoyed well into his 80s), and teaching his kids and grandkids how to drive a stick shift. He loved animals - especially horses, cattle, and the many dogs who walked beside him his whole life. He loved road trips and leisurely drives in the country with a hot coffee in his hand and a goofy song at the ready.
He was preceded in death by Gwen, his wife of 56 years; his son Louis; and his sister Dorcas Wheaton.
He is survived by children Kathleen of Anchorage, Alaska, Erin of Fort Collins and Benjamin and Lisa of Montrose, Colorado; daughter-in-law Rita Bowers of Colorado Springs, Colorado; grandsons Frederick and Jhoana of Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar, Venezuela, Samuel and Kelli of Colorado Springs, and Jack and Baile of Olathe, Kansas; granddaughters Kaitlyn of Las Vegas and Kayla and Waleed Haneef of Colorado Springs; four great-grandchildren Savannah, Patrick, Zion and Ezra; sister Carol Johnson of San Francisco; sister-in-law Kip Malone of Boise, Idaho; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 15, 2022, at Heart of the Rockies Christian Church, 6501 Brittany Street, Fort Collins. Inurnment will follow at Grandview Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Colorado 4-H Foundation, 4040 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins CO 80523, or to SAINT, 333 W. Drake Rd. #42, Fort Collins, CO 80526.
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