Grand Valley State University and the West Michigan community mourn
the death of Joseph Stevens, who died Saturday, December 17. He would
have been 94 in January.
Many in West Michigan knew
Stevens as the founder of National Correct Color Service, after moving
to Grand Rapids from Detroit in 1956. The Poland native immigrated to
the U.S. in 1949. Stevens evaded Hitler’s World War II death camps by
concealing his Jewish identity, and was a leader in the underground
raids against Nazi soldiers. Through the efforts of Grand Valley
President Emeritus Arend D. Lubbers, Stevens’ wartime experiences were
published in the book, Good Morning, in 2001.
A public service is planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday, December
21, at Temple Emanuel, 1715 E. Fulton.
Stevens’ relationship with Grand Valley began in 1988, when he
spoke about his war memories to a new class about the Holocaust,
established by political science professor William Baum. It was
Stevens’ first time talking publicly about his experiences. His sons
Richard and Jack had encouraged him to write down his stories to
preserve them. When Lubbers heard about the compelling lectures and
the manuscript, he determined it would become Grand Valley’s first
university-published book. English Department faculty members became
involved in the project, Baum wrote the preface, and Hank Meijer, of
Meijer, Inc. underwrote production costs.
In 1990 the Joseph Stevens Freedom Endowment was established by
Grand Valley from the proceeds of the book and the contributions of
individuals. The endowment funds lectures related to human rights and
freedom. During the 2010-2011 academic year, presentations included an
Amnesty International lecture by filmmaker Guy Gunaratne and a keynote
lecture about the conflict in El Salvador by screenwriter Oscar
Torres.
In 2004, WGVU Productions traveled with Stevens to revisit the
places of his past life in Poland for production of a documentary,
Defying Hitler. The 30-minute film was premiered in 2005
and received several national awards for excellence in documentary film.
As stated by family in Stevens' obituary, memorial contributions may be given to the Joseph Stevens Freedom Endowment of Grand Valley State University or other charities.
