IAN STEVENSON -- OBITUARY August 17, 1932 - June 26, 2014 Ian Stevenson was born at home in Dearborn, Michigan on August 17, 1932 to Elizabeth Stevenson (nee Jenkinson) formerly of Manchester, England and George Stevenson formerly of Ross & Cromarty, Scotland. He was joined about six years later by a brother Ronald Stevenson. He had a typical post-depression and WWII childhood where he was a bit of a ruffian and ran with the 'Kendall Street' gang including Larry Matesa and Alex Bardy. He played organized hockey as a kid on the Dearborn Americans and was an accomplished tennis player. He lost his father to colon cancer at 13. There were some very lean years. Ian told many heartfelt stories of the Dearborn GoodFellows providing Christmas for he and his brother Ron. His mother remarried Edward F. Klann when he was in his teens bringing two more siblings: Edward Klann, Jr and Louise Klann. They were a family. Not a modern blended family, a cohesive single family. He looked to Ed as his father and Eddie and Louise as a brother and a sister. He first worked at 13 in Ziggy's butcher shop in East Dearborn and eventually learned the trade of being a butcher. This was too pedestrian for his likes and late in his teens he enlisted in the Navy and then switched to the Air Force where he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was stationed all over the world, including: California, North Africa and Bury St Edmonds in England where he participated in the Berlin Air Lift. Upon returning to the states he used the GI Bill to attend college at Henry Ford Community College and then at Wayne State University earning a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. He passed the CPA exam on his first attempt and was accepted into Wayne State University School of Law. After college, Ian married a young college student, Patricia Anne Caldwell who he met on a blind date at the corner bar near his home. She was being raised by her mother on a small farm in Ontario. In spite of his asthma and allergies, he visited and stayed at the farm endearing himself to Bessie Caldwell and earning her approval. Pat and Ian married; Ian went to work as Pat made the home. With a young wife and bills to pay, he worked as a CPA at Price Waterhouse and taught business courses at his alma mater: HFCC. Two years after they wed, they had a child, Peter. Originally the couple lived in a flat in East Dearborn but with the new arrival they moved to a starter home in Dearborn on Detroit street. After a short time in a townhouse in the Warrendale area, in 1964 they bought a home in Dearborn Hills on Rockford where they remained together for the rest of their lives. Every summer the family rented the same cottage on Whitmore Lake, with Ian commuting to work and Pat and Peter enjoying the sun and water. In the early years, they shared the cottage with their good friends the Matesas and the Hubbards with card games late into the night, summer parties and boating. The group always had some grand plan: build a boat from plywood and bed sheets, buy a huge magnet and troll for lost boat motors, stage their own fireworks for July Fourth, etc. It was an raucous place welcoming all who would come, with Ian as the chief entertainer. Though he never told many jokes, his storytelling is legend and he could keep his friends laughing and entertained for hours. After his career a Big Seven firm where he worked as an auditor for many Fortune 500 companies, Ian went into corporate finance working for Bormans Incorporated, which operated Arnold's Drugs, Yankee Department Stores and Farmer Jacks Supermarkets. He left Bormans to become the Vice President for Finance for the dental division of Litton, Inc which was the largest dental supplier in the country. After Litton, he became the Executive Vice President of Meadowbrook Insurance, the largest independent insurance broker in the state of Michigan. Ian left Meadowbrook to open his own independent insurance agency, Parklane Insurance, in the early 1970s. His speciality was municipal insurance and high risk ventures, including 'hole-in-one' tournaments. He was a avid golfer and played tennis every week with Art Raymond. During his business years, he was active in Rotary and never missed a cold, wet day on a street corner before Christmas with a jug in his hand collecting money for the Dearborn GoodFellows repaying a small portion of their kindness from his childhood. On a business trip in the late 1970's, he happened across a MG replica automobile, and was smitten. An auto aficionado his whole life, he closed his agency, took a business loan and opened London Motors to produce MG replica automobiles. During the 1980's Ian and Pat enjoyed car racing and music together, as well as travel. They attended NASCAR events and all the Detroit Grand Prix when it was on the Formula 1 circuit. Ian enjoyed a black 1976 Jaguar XKE and raced his own Mazda RX-7 locally, even winning some races. They often attended the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They traveled to the United Kingdom often to watch formula 1 racing and to attend the Proms at Prince Albert Hall. They went to New Orleans for Jazz and to Vienna for the symphony. On the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary, they were treated to a trip to Paris and a stay in the Hotel de Crillon by their son Peter and his wife. After he left the automobile manufacturing world, he returned to accountancy where he worked as a consultant for small businesses, in particular medical, dental and legal practices. In his later years, and up until the cancer which eventually took him, he once again practiced as a CPA for clients with extraordinary tax debt, as their advocates with the IRS. Ian only closed his practice in 2013 after his diagnosis and the treatments occupied so much of his time. Ian and Pat's pride and joy was their twin grandchildren: Matthew and Michael. They babysat weekly for years and delighted when 'the boys' stayed with them. After he was widowed, Ian always made a point to spend time with 'the boys' engaging them, regaling them of his exploits and always reminding them of their Grandma Pat. And naturally, taking them to the video game store so he could spoil them with games. Ian was fortunate to have his parents late into life and cared for them in their later years. His mother lived to be 96 and his father to 92. The only love of his life, Ian lost his wife to the complications of COPD at only 68, about a decade ago . They were married 42 years. He visited her grave every day after her demise, until his recent illness curtailed his visits to a few times a week, bringing flowers and cards on special occasions. Last spring, Ian was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer and underwent radiation and chemotherapy during the summer of 2013. It was a tough fight and Ian wouldn't quit. Though he needed help at home after his cancer was diagnosed he was cared for by kind, caring staff who saw through his gruff demeanor and met his needs. He went, as he lived his life, on his own terms-fighting till the very end. He is survived by his son and family: Peter and Wanda Stevenson and their twins: Matthew and Michael; his nephew and family: Tracy and Teresa and their children: Harmony, Trevor & Felicity; his Brother Edward Klann, Jr and sister Louise (Klann) and Bob Greco and their children.