T. J. Stevens

Funeral services for T.J. Stevens, 85, of Rogers, NM will be held at 10:00 AM, Saturday April 11th, 2026, at the Dora Church of Christ with Merle Roehr officiating.  Burial will follow in the Mt. Zion Cemetery with the Fort Bliss Army Color Guard serving as pallbearers and rendering military honors.  The family will receive guests at the Wheeler Mortuary on Friday evening from 5 to 7:30 PM.

T. J. Stevens was born November 12th, 1940, in St. Elmo, TN to the home of Frances (Lockman) and James Marshall Stevens, and his Lord called him home on Resurrection Day, April 5th, 2026.  He graduated from high school in Waynesville, NC in 1958.  Following graduation, T. J. enlisted in the US Army.  He later applied for Officer Candidate School (OCS) and received his commission in April of 1965.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics, with a minor in Mathematics. He completed his Master’s degree in Computer Science from Kansas State University in only 6 months. Mr. Stevens served a total of 24 years and two months in the US Army retiring in 1983 as a Lieutenant Colonel.  During his years of service, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Valorous Unit Award, the National Defense Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, the Legion of Merit and a Purple Heart among others.  At his last two duty stations, he served as a Communications Specialist for both the Pentagon and the White House. He served under President Reagan from August 1981 to November 1982, contributing to critical communication efforts at the highest level of government. 

Following his retirement from the military, he was employed as an Advanced Systems Manager for IBM and was selected as Manager of the Year in 1988.  In 1989, he was offered an executive position with Xerox as General Manager for Xerox Advanced Information Technology (XAIT). He excelled at Xerox and in 1994 was promoted as a director for Xerox Software Division (XSoft) in Palo Alto, Ca.  In 1995, he relocated to New Mexico, but still worked for Xerox until 2001. From 2001 to 2009 he oversaw the IT communications as a network engineer in the Assessor’s Office in Roosevelt County, as well three other counties.

T. J. was married to Oteka Jean Smith on November 23, 1961 in El Paso, TX.  He was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ and lived his life for the Lord.  He was a deacon for over 30 years and an elder for over 10 years in the Church of Christ. Since living in the Rogers community, he was a member and elder at the Dora Church of Christ.  T. J. was always an optimist and could see the upside of everything.  He enjoyed playing pool at the Dora Senior Center, loved playing golf, going fishing, working with electronics, and loved watching his grandsons play basketball.

He is survived by his daughter, Lisa Stevens Masini of Rogers; his son and daughter-in-law, James and Tiffany Stevens of Richmond, VA; four grandchildren, A. J. and Steven Austin Masini that he helped to raise and counted them as his sons, as well as Cash and Sawyer Stevens.  He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, J. W. Stevens who died December 16th, 2017 and Guy Stevens who died February 12th , 2021, as well as his beloved wife “Teka” who died November 5th, 2018 following only a few days short of 57 years of marriage. God welcome him home as a good and faithful servant.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of T. J. Stevens, please visit our floral store.