Our club is sad that we have lost a Great One from our midst - Bill Stevens - but we are so glad to have known him, and will continue to benefit from his 53 years of Rotary service, leadership and friendship. Bill passed away at Hospice Wellington on November 3, 2025 in his 92nd year. His obituary and our club's eulogy are below. A Celebration of Life will be held at the University of Guelph Arboretum on Saturday, January 10, 2026 at 11am. Rotarians are invited to attend and form an Honour Guard for Bill's family to enter the room at around 11:20am.
Bill Stevens - Eulogy
by Tom Funk, at the Rotary Club of Guelph meeting
on November 7, 2025
Every Rotary Club has a very small group of members that are in a class of their own. They go way beyond the norm in terms of their service to the club, the local community and the worldwide community. Earlier this week we lost Bill Stevens who was one of these rare people.
Bill was proposed for Rotary in 1972 by Jim Runions with the classification Agriculture - Poultry Breeding. At the time Bill was a Professor in the Ontario Veterinary College having received his undergrad degree at the Ontario Ag College and his PhD at the University of California. Being an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create his own business in poultry genetics and formed William Stevens Associates that specialized in all area of turkey production and marketing. As many of you know, he was constantly teased about being a “turkey”.
Over his 53 years in Rotary, Bill had many highlights - President, Chair of our Charitable Foundation, and Chair of many other committees. But his greatest contribution to Rotary was in International Service. For you to understand this, I need to lay out a little history. Former member Dave Kennedy worked with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to form a relationship between all Rotary Clubs in Canada and that agency. This made great sense because of Rotary’s presence in under-developed countries.
Shortly after this agreement was reached, Dave formed what was called the Canadian Rotary Committee for International Development (CRCID) and Bill volunteered to manage this effort which he did for the duration of the agreement. This was a huge job which involved working with many of the 400 Rotary Clubs in Canada to
Initiate projects,
Prepare project proposals,
Twin Canadian clubs with clubs in recipient countries,
Monitor progress of projects, and
Measure the impact once the project was completed
Under Bill’s management, dozens of projects were completed with funding of over $30 million. And new guidelines were developed to improve future project effectiveness. Most of these projects made a huge difference in the quality of life for thousands of people in all parts of the world.
It would be hard to find another Rotarian with this commitment to Service Above Self.
As Bill became weaker, his family decided to move him to Hospice Wellington. Like many Rotarians, Bill was very instrumental in the establishment of this facility. His daughter Debbie reported that knowing he was in a place Rotary nurtured over many years made him feel comfortable and very proud during his last days.
Bill lost his dear wife of 64 years, Beverley, in December 2024. He leaves behind his precious family - Robert, Debbie and Sharon who mourn the passing of this amazing man.
So, Turkey Bill, may you rest in peace after a life well lived.
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OBITUARY
Stevens, Robert William ‘Bill’
Friday, April 13, 1934 - Monday, November 3, 2025
Bill Stevens was born on Friday, April 13, 1934, Good Friday. He referred to it as ‘Great Friday’ and forever considered 13 to be his lucky number. He passed away in the arms of his children on November 3, 2025, at Hospice Wellington in Guelph. Bill lived by several deeply held convictions. This remembrance honours his many mottos that guided him throughout his life.
‘Plan the Work – Work the Plan” was one of Bill’s mottos. As such, he wrote his own obituary nearly a decade ago. The words that follow in quotations are his words he left for this occasion.
“I died today! Cause unknown, BUT I exceeded my expectations since my parents, Vernon & Reta Stevens and brothers, John & Jim Stevens, died at much younger ages. So, I have no reason to complain. I tried to be ‘true to myself’ and I hope in doing so I left no enemies. My regrets are few, although I wish I had developed a musical talent.
I would like to think that I will be remembered as a parent, husband, academic, athlete, poultryman, business executive, mushroom man, manager, mentor and volunteer. My life’s experiences tell me that the people that will grieve my passing the most are my immediate family. My wife Beverley and I had three wonderful children who have matured into responsible citizens and parents. Their concern for our health and welfare has been beyond duty.”
Bill was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Beverley Stevens, less than one year ago. They were married at War Memorial Hall at the University of Guelph and enjoyed their home and community in Guelph for over 60 years.
Bill leaves behind his son Robert Stevens and his wife Molly, as well as his daughters Debbie Stevens and Sharon Stevens. Bill adored his six grandchildren, and they adored their ‘Papa’. Rob and Molly’s ’s daughter Mia, Debbie’s daughters Erin (Nick) and Allie (Ryan), and Sharon’s children Caleigh, Jenna and Bram (Caroline). They will all keep the memory of their Papa alive for his newest namesake, Theodore William. Bill was larger than life to his grandchildren and they have embodied many of his mottos and inherited his love of ice cream.
Rooted in what was modelled to him in childhood, Bill’s dedication to his family was practiced every day.
“I had a great relationship with my mother. Every day through public and high school, I came home for lunch, yelled ‘Hay Mae, I’m home’. Mae was my nickname for her.”
When Bill’s two brothers passed away decades ago, Bill became the patriarch of the extended Stevens family. He fully adopted his niece Anne Stevens with mutual affection and admiration. He held a special role for his nephew Lincoln Stevens and his wife Monie, as well as his niece Nancy Stevens and his late niece Lynn Burrows and his nephew John English. He will be remembered fondly by his sisters-in-law Joan and Joyce, as well as all his nieces and nephews; Mark, Jim, Cathy, John, Bill and Joanie.
Bill loved his ‘family of choice’ circle of friends and ‘strangers only once’ that he found at Geneva Park, relationships that have continued through generations. It was the foundation of a lifetime of tradition and 50 years of bringing family together for summer vacation, Thanksgiving weekends, New Year’s Winterlude and numerous skits and pranks. Geneva Park extended to Guelph tennis weekends, guys’ golf trips, and travel adventures. For Bill, Geneva Park was his favourite place to come together with family and friends to ‘gather sunsets’.
Bill lived a life of community service: Director of the Guelph YMCA, member of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce, and life member of the University of Guelph Alumni Association. But it was Rotary where he demonstrated Service Above Self as a 50+ year member of the Rotary Club of Guelph, serving as President in 1986, Director in 1978 and as Chair of the Club’s Charitable Foundation. He also served on Rotary International’s World Community Service Committee.
Bill also relished in the weekly fellowship of a men’s group called ‘The Senators’, which he initiated to support other likeminded fellows through the isolation of the pandemic, and continues to this day.
He enjoyed his tennis at the Cutten Club, downhill skiing with his family and doing 50 laps a day in his backyard swimming pool. Notably, he did a once annual back flip off his diving board well into his 80’s.
It was his reverence for education, instilled by his own father Vernon Stevens, which was equally steadfast throughout his life. “I admired my father, from a strict Baptist childhood in Strathroy. He coveted education and earned a Ph.D. at age 72. Mr. Clark sponsored him to McMaster. Hence, my third name Clark, in gratitude.”
Always evaluating the world through a science lens, Bill was unreserved in expressing his belief in evolution. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Toronto, Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) then a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. Outside of his studies, his passion was competing on the OAC football and basketball teams.
“I lived by a few mottos. My religious faith was simply ‘Providence Provides’ and it did, frequently. In my life, every providential event was facilitated by a mentor.
The first was Gord Riches, milkman and Scout Leader. He let me help on his horse-drawn milk wagon when I was 10. That was followed by Fred Vodden, farmer at Clinton. He adopted me at 12 to be his hired hand. Bill Huycke taught me how to jump and play basketball. At the Ontario Agricultural College, Ian White selected me to be a student-dean. Mac Cuddy showed total trust in me for 40 years and sponsored me to the Agri-business course at Harvard. He introduced me to George Nicholas, turkey & sheep breeder, philosopher and visionary, who, in turn, introduced me to Dr. Fred Shultz, consulting geneticist, who paved the way for me to earn a Ph.D. Providence Provides!”
Bill enjoyed a long and successful career which began at the Ontario Veterinary College as a Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biomedical Sciences followed by teaching in the Department of Animal & Poultry Sciences at the University of Guelph.
Academia was the foundation of the next 50 years of his profession. After working for many large agri-food companies, he took the leap into entrepreneurship, created William Stevens Consultants Ltd., and consulted to governments, associations and businesses nationally and internationally. His work saw him invited to countries around the world, as an expert in animal husbandry, focused on poultry, swine, and later, mushrooms. He often referred to himself as a ‘turkey man’ and later a ‘fun-gi’.
As Bill often enjoyed having the final word, he deserves to do so now.
“If you asked me how I am now, I would say just ‘chipper’. I do believe my cup has runneth over! I also still believe that ‘a turkey with a Ph.D. is still a turkey’. Celebration of Life is out of my hands".
"To my children’s children… Come let us gather sunsets together. Hugs and kisses, Papa.”
Bill and his wife Beverley will be forever memorialized at the same Manitou White Ash tree in the University of Guelph Arboretum that was initially dedicated to his parents Vernon & Rita Stevens.
Bill would be so pleased if his commitment to Hospice Wellington continued in his honour through a memorial donation. www.hospicewellington.org/donate
Celebration of Life details will be announced once arrangements are finalized.
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CELEBRATION OF LIFE - MEMORIES OF A WONDERFUL LIFE
On Saturday, January 10, 2026, the Arboretum Centre was packed with family, friends and colleagues to celebrate the life and legacy of this exceptional man.
The family's arrangements and speeches were simply wonderful - full of details and memories about every aspect of Bill's long life. Around 40 Rotarians, past and present, formed an Honour Guard for the arrival of Bill's family in the hall. Side tables held memorabilia, and the event concluded with an ice cream bar where family members donned aprons and served Bill's favourite ice cream in the world … Muskoka Mocha.
What a perfect celebration this was!
