STEPHENS, Martin Elliott

Published in Today's News Herald on Apr. 2, 2020 - Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Martin Elliott Stephens, known to his friends as "Marty", passed away on March 27, 2020 at the age of 72 in Lake Havasu City. He was born in Ida Grove, Iowa on April 20, 1947 to Norton Stephens and Phyllis Stephens-Whited. Marty graduated from Carroll High School in Carroll, Iowa. He held various positions within the telecommunications field. He started as a lineman/technician and progressed to marketing lead. He worked at Northwestern Bell, US West, Qwest, and CenturyLInk. Marty was also a city councilman in Alleman, Iowa in the early 1980s. He went on to create his own telecom contracting business called NuLine, which was acquired in 2002. He married his true love, JoAnn "Petey", at St. Lawrence Catholic Church. They were blessed with 50 years of marriage. Marty loved music. He was a self-taught musician and could play just by hearing it. He knew just enough about drumsticks to be dangerous, but really loved and excelled at playing guitar. He had one of the best voices, and really could have been the sixth Beach Boys member. Marty was born and raised in Iowa, but when he and Petey moved to Arizona, they never looked back. They loved the hot, dry, climate and beautiful mountain landscape full of saguaro cactus. Martin is preceded in death by his wife; JoAnn "Petey" Stephens, and his parents; Norton Stephens and Phyllis Stephens-Whited. He is survived by his daughters; Wendy Maria (Kevin) Donahue and Julie Ann (Danny) Robert, brothers; Randy (Susan), Gary (Jeanne), Doug (Tammy), and Jeff (Rhonda) Stephens, 7 grandchildren, and 5 great- grandchildren. Services were entrusted to the care of Lietz Fraze Funeral Home. Thoughts and condolences can be sent to the family at www.lietz- frazefuneralhome.com. To send a free card go to www.sendoutcards.com/lietzfraze. In lieu of gifts, donations can be made to the Fender Music Foundation.