Lloyd W. Stevens, 97, surgeon and professor

Dr. Lloyd W. Stevens, 97, of Bryn Mawr, a retired surgeon and professor of surgery, died of cancer Sunday, Sept. 25, at Lankenau Hospital.

From 1959 to 1979, Dr. Stevens was director of surgery at Presbyterian Medical Center, and from 1939 to 1979, he was on the medical faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he retired as a professor of clinical surgery.

Dr. Stevens pioneered many surgical techniques and was the author of 35 papers in various journals of medicine and surgery as well as a contributing author to numerous chapters in medical textbooks.

At Presbyterian Hospital, he was president of the medical staff from 1959 to 1961 and again from 1970 to 1973. He was also on the surgical staff of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate Hospital, Medical College of Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia General Hospital, where he served as visiting chief of surgery from 1950 through 1976.

He was surgeon to the Eagles from 1945 to 1949, during which the team won two national championships.

"His care for his patients was unbelievable," said his wife, Eleanor. "He was totally devoted to them. Christmas, Easter, he would never miss a day. If we took a short vacation, no matter where we were, he would be on the phone almost daily to check on them."

Born in Philadelphia in 1914, Dr. Stevens grew up in various suburban communities, because his father, a Methodist minister, was transferred every two years.

Endowed with exceptional intelligence, he graduated from high school at 16 and enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his course of study there in only three years, graduating in 1933, and proceeded to Penn's School of Medicine. When he graduated from there in 1937, he was first in his class, a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society, and recipient of the Packard Prize in Clinical Medicine.

He served his internship and residency in surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 1937 through 1944.

A member of numerous professional associations, Dr. Stevens received a citation from the Dominican Republic Gastroenterological Society and was given the Roth Award for excellence in teaching and practice by the gastroenterology department at Presbyterian Hospital.

"He was not only intellectually brilliant, but also had tremendous wisdom about life," said his stepdaughter, Susan Corl. "He continued to be a mentor at our church, and people would call all the time for advice. They would come to him for a second opinion, and he'd be right every time."

Friends and professional colleagues viewed him as "a rock," strong, stable, and dependable, his stepdaughter said.

Despite all his professional accomplishments, he remained remarkably humble, his wife said. "That's what he was known for, his humility."

Dr. Stevens married the former Eleanor Van Dyke in 1971. She was a nurse, 18 years his junior, working on the floor where many of his patients were at Presbyterian Hospital. At the time, both were going through divorces. They began talking and supporting each other and fell in love. They celebrated their 40th anniversary this year.

"We had a fantastic marriage," she said. "His whole life, he spent every day trying to make life easier and more wonderful for me. If marriages can be perfect, ours was."

After he retired, Dr. Stevens tended more deeply to his faith and became more active in religious circles. He served as an elder at the Church of the Saviour in Wayne, where he and his wife were caretakers of the Mission House, a residence for missionaries on furlough. He was a frequent speaker before groups of Christian businessmen as well as for the Executive Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Dr. Stevens was also active on the board of directors of the Hermitage, the residential community in Bryn Mawr to which he and his wife moved in 1984 after many years in Haverford. He served as president until his recent hospitalization - and far longer than any other person - and his counsel was so highly regarded that the board repeatedly discouraged him from retiring.

Dr. Stevens loved fishing, both fly and deep-sea, and he adored his shelties. One of them, Topper, became a consistent winner in the obedience ring. "Mom would show the dog, and Dad was the helper and coach," his stepdaughter said.

Dr. Stevens was a member of Pocono Lake Preserve, the Merion Cricket Club, and Seaview Country Club.

In addition to his wife and stepdaughter, Dr. Stevens is survived by his daughters from his first marriage, Mary Ellen Stevens, Carol A. Hovey, and Susan W. Plaza; a stepson, David R. Darwin; 17 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Another stepson, Richard A. Darwin, died in 2010.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Church of the Saviour, 651 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne, Pa. 19087. Donations may be made to the Mission House of Church of the Saviour.