Cyril Albert Stevens was born October 18, 1931, to Albert James and Dorothy Maude (Fitzgerald) Stevens, in Balham (London), England. He died at his home in Christmas Valley, OR, on May 27, 2016.
Raised in the church, Cyril accepted the Lord Jesus as personal savior while a child. He attended schools in London during WWII, enduring the Blitz and losing at least one childhood home. Cyril served in the British Army for two years, from 1949 to 1951, as a radio operator, training troops for mountain climbing and survival in the Welsh mountains, where he met Rene Roberts in church. While in the Army, Cyril began to preach the gospel. He attended art school in South Wales, studied the Bible with veteran ministers of the time, and began a part time ministry after the Army.
On October 30, 1954, he married Rene Cheer Roberts and they went on to have three children: Sharon, Paul, and Judith. Cyril and Rene were full time pastor and wife of various churches, moving the family to the U.S. in 1969.
Cyril served several churches: Newtown Baptist Church in England; Lakewood Baptist Church, Tacoma, WA; First Baptist Church, La Grande, OR; First Baptist Church, Watsonville, CA; First Baptist, Molalla, OR, Far Horizons Fellowship, Molalla, OR and Christmas Valley Community Church in Christmas Valley, OR. He was a much sought after speaker for camps and special meetings. At La Grande, he encouraged the church to open Heidi Ho Christian Kindergarten, which is still operating. He also enjoyed hunting for elk, climbing mountains, backpacking and riding horses.
Cyril’s greatest passion was preaching and sharing the Gospel of Jesus with others and instructing them in Biblical principles for living. Spreading the Gospel took him to various mission fields such as Brazil, India and Latvia, Europe. He first became acquainted with Americans at the Air Force bases in Upper Heyford and Croughton in England, which later led to the move to Tacoma. He had a great vision to have the Word of God proclaimed over the radio. While in Chesham (England), he would transport a large tape recorder in a baby buggy and push it around town in order that the sick or shut-in members could hear a sermon. During the ministry in La Grande, the morning worship service was aired live on the local radio station, and in California, a weekly sermon was aired. Recently the program “Saints for Jesus” has been aired on KLGN, Bend, OR.
Throughout Cyril’s 64+ years of ministry, he impacted many lives for Jesus. He was always generous, recognizing more than most that the money he had was not his and if he saw someone in need, he did whatever he could to help that individual, never worrying about how he would later pay his own bills. Not only did he proclaim the gospel, but he lived it out in his own life, by trusting God in all things and living by faith.
Cyril always had a kind word, in his own unique style, to encourage, to pass on joy, and to show the love of Jesus. He made those around him glad for to have known him, and was always willing to speak with anyone.
On March 9, 2019, Cyril’s wife of 61 years, Rene, went to be with Lord.
Cyril is survived by his three children and spouses, 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Cyril was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, John Stevens.
About Rene
Rene Cheer (Roberts) Stevens, 90, formerly of Christmas Valley, went to be with the Lord on Saturday, March 9, 2019 in La Grande, Oregon.
Rene was born April 1, 1928 in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales to Sidney Cheer and Elizabeth Daisy Roberts. She spent her formative years amongst a lively, fun loving, and caring family of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins in North Wales. Rene loved to tell stories of their escapades in the uncles’ cars and trips to the beach and mountains. The uncles and cousins teased Rene about her red hair and had a lot of fun together. Rene, Cora, and their mother assisted Rene’s grandparents in their boot shop. Sidney’s father was a school headmaster and pastor in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.
Blaenau was a slate quarry town and as the need for slate decreased, so also did the employment opportunities. Sid had served as a pilot in WWI and was a mechanic. In 1938, when Rene was 10, the family moved to Canada.
Rene came to know the Lord while a teenager and her faith remained the center of her life. They lived in London and Toronto, Canada, where she attended high school and London Bible College (receiving her Christian Education Degree).
To earn tuition money, she worked at a chocolate factory and later at an insurance company.
As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, she planned to return to Wales to share her faith with other family members before becoming a children’s missionary. On her return trip to the UK, Rene and her mother were ship-wrecked (and subsequently rescued!).
Rene decided to add nursing to her skills and enrolled in training in Chester, England, just over the border from Wales. While there, at a Bible study, she met a dashing Londoner who was also a believer and was serving his National Service following WWII in the mountains of Wales. After receiving her State Registered Nurse status, Rene married Cyril A. Stevens in 1954, in England.
Rene and Cyril served in a church in London for about one year and then moved to Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, where Cyril became pastor of Newtown Baptist Church. Rene led ladies’ Bible studies and children’s classes and assisted in the ministry by providing many meals and nights of lodging to those who needed it – a role that she continued for the next 60 years of marriage and ministry. Rene also worked at Amersham Hospital during this time. Rene sewed, knit, and embroidered clothing and household accessories. She was a true example of industriousness and hospitality to those of us who knew her.
While the family was in Chesham, Sharon, Paul, and Judith were born. Rene devoted herself to taking care of the children and home.
In 1964, the family moved to Oxfordshire, and in 1967 Cyril traveled to Canada as an itinerant preacher across the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. During this time, Rene worked in Oral Surgery at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford.
April 1969, Rene, Sharon, Paul, and Judith joined Cyril in Tacoma, WA, where they pastored Lakewood Conservative Baptist Church until 1972, when they moved to First Baptist Church in La Grande, OR. During all this time, Cyril was in high demand as a speaker in churches, camps and on foreign mission fields. Rene always kept the “home fires burning” and took excellent care of the home and children.
Toward the end of 1978, Cyril and Rene and Judith moved to First Baptist Church in Watsonville, CA. Rene decided to renew her nursing interest and took courses to become an LPN in California, and worked as a nurse at a Doctor’s private practice.
In 1988, Cyril and Rene returned to Oregon, pastoring in Molalla and Christmas Valley.
During the California, Molalla, and Christmas Valley years, Rene made frequent trips to Wales to visit her aging mother and visited her daughter, Judith, in Greece, especially when the grandchildren were born, while continuing to minister alongside Cyril.
Cyril died May 26, 2016 after a short battle with cancer. Since Christmas Valley was so remote and Rene had recently been diagnosed with Multi-Focal-Motor-Neuropathy, the family moved Rene to Paul’s home in Cove, OR and, subsequently, she moved in with Sharon and Lyle in North Powder, OR. Recently her health declined and she moved to a La Grande care home. She continued “sharing cheer” and encouragement right up to her last week of life.
Rene is survived by her three children, ten grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.
Rene was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Cora Tull and her husband Cyril Stevens.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21