A memorial service will be held on Thursday, June 3, 2021, at 3:00 pm in the chapel of the St. Louis Cremation (2135 Chouteau, St. Louis, Missouri) to commentate the life of Alice Refeld Stevenson.

Allice Refeld Stevenson was born on August 16, 1930, in Gillette, Arkansas, the first-born child of Amelia Boyd Refeld and Benjamin Refeld. Alice was the eldest of three girls. Her youngest sister Mosealler Brown still resides in Arkansas. Her other sister, Feaolo Douglas, predeceased her.

Alice was part of a generation that witnessed a dramatic transformation in our nation’s history. Born at the beginning of the Great Depression in the segregated South, she was not unfamiliar with picking cotton. Still, she led a remarkable life, particularly given the hand she dealt. Over her 90-year life, she witnessed America at its best, and at its worst. Her ever-present smile and joyful laugh were her trump cards to life’s harsh realities. Not to be outdone by her youngest sister, Mosealler, she took classes on television, earning a nurse’s degree.

While she spent her working career at Saint John’s Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, her real job was raising three rambunctious children, Clinton, Joslyn, and Belinda. Cleo, her husband of seventy years, was the disciplinarian. But everyone knew who ran the house. Her children and her grandchildren (Benjamin, Austin, and Eyan) can all attest to her marvelous culinary skills, especially her “Doctor Bird”, “Sock-It-To-Me” and Rum cakes!

Alice spent her entire life in North St. Louis, most of it on North Taylor Avenue, proud of her plants and her cooking. She passed away on Sunday, May 23, 2021, in her home.

Alice passed away owing no one, but her survivors will remain eternally indebted to her for her love and encouragement. Survivors include her husband Cleo of St. Louis, Missouri; sister Mosealler Brown of Cotton Plant, Arkansas; son Clinton and his wife Degoria of Cresskill, New Jersey; daughter Joslyn of St. Louis, Missouri; daughter Belinda of Chicago, Illinois; first grandson Benjamin of London, England; Grandson Austin and his wife Natalie of Chicago, Illinois; and Grandson Eyan and his wife Precious of Indianapolis, Indiana. She did not have a chance to meet her great-granddaughter Nora, expected to be born in June. Great-granddaughter Nora’s birth coincides with Alice’s departure, a reminder that our heritage lives on, even after our inevitable dissolve.

The internment of Alice’s remains will be in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (2900 Sheridan Road) in South St. Louis.