Graveside service with military honors for SSG (Retired) Ernest E. Stephens will be at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, April 13, 2023, at Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin, Oklahoma.

Services are under the direction of the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

SSG (Retired) Ernest E. Stephens, 73, of Lawton, Oklahoma passed away Saturday, April 8, 2023 in Temple, Oklahoma.

SSG (Retired) Ernest Edward "Eddie" Stephens was born April 6, 1950, in Amarillo, Texas to Lucille (White) Kane. He graduated from Anadarko High School in 1968. That same year he enlisted in the U.S. Army. On October 8, 1977, he married Marie Butcher at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He retired from the Army in 1987. After his retirement he went to work at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Jefferson City, Missouri, and retired in 2003. After his retirement from the State of Missouri, he spent time just enjoying his retirement.

Ernest is survived by his wife of the home; daughter, Serena Turner and husband Charles, of St. James, Missouri; sister, Paula Allen and husband, Robert, of Lawton, Oklahoma; brother, Webster Kane and wife, Debbie of Anadarko, Oklahoma; and, sister, Linda Curbow of Lawton, Oklahoma.

He was preceded in death by his parents.