Republished from Tim Stevens’s public Facebook Post
Jacob David Stevens, 41, an automotive teacher at his beloved Garner Magnet High School, died unexpectedly at his home on Monday night. Our family appreciates the support we have received from the community. Your prayers help to relieve the pain.
He was a good, caring person who loved his wife, Allison, and 15-year-old son Wade with all his being. He and Wade had worked together for more than a year to restore Jake’s first truck to become Wade's first car. Jake had so looked forward to watching Wade drive it. Jake didn’t quite get it finished, but friends plan to have Wade riding soon.
Jake could be found most weeks eating Sunday dinner with his parents, Donna and Tim Stevens, his sisters Susanna Stevens and Elizabeth Edwards and their families. He loved being an uncle to niece Hannah Edwards and nephew Hank Edwards. Family was paramount.
As a child, Jake loved going with his family to Disney World. Coordinating vacation time for four families had become difficult in recent years, but Jake had managed to plan a big family gathering in Florida in May. He knew people would have different agendas on the trip, but he said he wanted to get everybody together again at one of his favorite places.
Jake grew up around sports and he loved baseball. He was a starter for Garner Senior, but said he never realized that he wasn’t very good until he quit playing.
Football gradually became his athletic passion. He did not play football until his sophomore year in high school, but eventually was a quarterback, place kicker, and punter on the varsity. He broke his leg making a tackle during his senior season but rejoined the team for the state playoffs and helped the Trojans to the state 4-A championship game.
He became an assistant football coach at Garner Senior, working with his former coach Hal Stewart and Stewart’s successors, Nelson Smith, and Thurman Leach. He loved coaching and the opportunity the work with young men.
His biggest passion was helping people. He restored a 1950s Farmall tractor for his grandfather, James R. Stevens, rebuilt another old tractor to become the blue and gold Trojan tractor and kept the teachers’ cars running. He loved teaching auto mechanics. Every year his Christmas wish list was primarily tools and equipment to be used at school. He would open a package and say that the kids in class would appreciate this.
Jake was a strong advocate for vocational education, and he reveled in his former students who found well-paying jobs in mechanical fields. He worked at finding jobs for his former students. Many of his students say he was the best teacher that they ever had. Others said that he changed their lives.
He was a person of strong faith and strong opinions.
But there was never any question that he was most concerned about his students and his family.
He is survived by his wife Allison and son Wade; his mother and father Donna and Tim Stevens; sister Susanna; and sister Elizabeth Edwards, her husband Patrick and their two children Hank and Hannah.
The last words we heard him speak came as he was leaving our house. He kissed Donna as he always did and said, "I love you, momma."
Jake’s loss is devastating to us.