Staff sergeant's death leaves hole in Pa. community, Marine Corps
By Brendan Gibbons
The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
Published: January 13, 2015
SPRINGVILLE TWP., Pa. (Tribune News Service) — A cold rain fell on people lining the streets, watching the hearse that was carrying the body of a young man whose death has rocked this small, rural community.
Cars with North Carolina plates joined the funeral procession Monday, each full of Marines who drove more than 10 hours from Camp Lejeune. Susquehanna County native Staff Sgt. Andrew Stevens was stationed there before his death on Jan. 2.
After serving deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and guarding American embassies in Africa, Canada and Japan, Staff Sgt. Stevens, 27, died when a water tanker truck smashed into his Dodge Durango, crushing it against another truck. He was in town for his sister’s wedding.
For his family — including his wife, Katy, 26, and two sons — his friends and fellow Marines, his death leaves a void that will never be filled. Ms. Stevens spoke of the future she lost during the funeral service at Springville Baptist Church. She and her husband joked that they hoped to become an old couple shopping for groceries together, still in love and “grabbing each others’ butts.” Their friends and family laughed.
“He and I always overcame the worst of situations,” she said.
Marines and their spouses told stories of the Marine and family man. He was someone they could trust with their problems, a helpful neighbor who would return a lost pet or mow the lawn for them, a father who reveled in celebrating kids’ birthdays and holidays together.
Many said Staff Sgt. Stevens’ motivated them. He fully embodied this trait by serving three of his nearly 10 years as a drill instructor in San Diego, where he turned recruits into disciplined Marines.
Staff Sgt. Stevens understood self-discipline long before he joined the Corps, his childhood friend Tim Smith said.
Mr. Smith was 3 when he met Staff Sgt. Stevens. He considered him a brother. Staff Sgt. Stevens helped him learn to snowboard and brought him along on his first and only hunting trip. When he returned from Afghanistan, Mr. Smith was waiting for him at the airport.
Growing up, Mr. Smith would often show up at Staff Sgt. Stevens’ house to find him building a stone wall or doing yard work, just to help his parents.
“He was always working,” Mr. Smith said. “He always pushed me to be better.”
He also had a humorous side, according to his father, Kenneth Stevens. He told a story of his son pretending he had broken his lawn mower, only to surprise him with a new one.
Though he was a “cut-up most of the time,” Mr. Stevens said his son was serious about his wife and sons, Hunter, 5, and Logan, 2.
At Lynn Cemetery, the boys watched as an honor guard placed their father’s flag-draped coffin in its final resting place. Rifle cracks split the air in a three-volley salute before the solemn notes of Taps drifted over the crowd. Around 80 Marines stood in a group on their own, clad in dress uniforms. Several wept openly.
With his mother, Hunter placed a red rose on his father’s coffin, his hand lingering. “I love you, dad,” he said.
Pennsylvania State Police have not said whether their investigation of the crash that killed Staff Sgt. Stevens is complete. Efforts Monday to reach public information officer Trooper Connie Devens were unsuccessful.
State police have not said whether the truck driver, Arlan Elmer Elvis Taft of Tioga, will face charges. Mr. Taft was driving for Mansfield-based Canyon Environmental LLC, Trooper Devens said.
Meanwhile, an online fundraising campaign to benefit the family has raised nearly $13,000 in nine days.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/staff-sergeant-s-death-leaves-hole-in-pa-community-marine-corps-1.323680
