The Willow Glen Resident

Reaching Out: 'He had soul, and it connected him with people from all walks of life,' said friend Harrison McCreath of Thomas Stevens, who died Feb. 28 at the age of 80.

Glen loses vibrant teacher, musician and businessman

Thomas Stevens ran Stevens Music on Lincoln for 34 years

By Rebecca Wallace

Thomas O. Stevens was a musician ahead of his time. During the late 1940s, the music teacher and former owner of the Stevens Music stores delighted in putting on cross-cultural holiday music shows at Willow Glen Elementary School with his students from Willow Glen and Lincoln high schools. It was a time when "multicultural" certainly wasn't a political buzzword.

"People couldn't believe we had Chanukah and Christmas at the same time," said his son, Gordon Stevens, of the shows, which also included traditional Mexican music. "The shows were really successful. ... He talked a lot in later years about how much he enjoyed them."

When Thomas Stevens died at the age of 80 on Feb. 28, Willow Glen lost a musician, longtime resident and businessman, who opened the first of the five Bay Area Stevens Music stores on Lincoln Avenue in 1951 and ran the chain for 34 years, aided by his son.

Stevens also taught countless children, and students at San Jose State and Stanford universities, the joys of music. And he put together and conducted choral groups, orchestras and Broadway-style shows such as Oklahoma!

"His first love was music and teaching, and he liked group work, with groups of kids. He wasn't a private teacher," said his son, a musician who played jazz and rock professionally during the 1960s and '70s.

And Thomas Stevens was also a warm friend and host, those close to him said.

"He had soul, and it connected him with people from all walks of life," said family friend and Willow Glen resident Harrison McCreath. "You didn't have to reach out; he reached out ... and his grin was infectious."

Born in Peoa, Utah, Stevens received a $50 music scholarship to study at San Bernardino Junior College, then earned his bachelor's degree in music education from San Jose State in 1940. He followed that performance with a master's in music education from Stanford.

Specializing in the bass viol and tuba, Stevens taught in the San Jose Unified School District for 17 years and was the first chairman of the music department at San Jose City College, his son said. He was also principal bassist and assistant conductor with the San Jose Symphony.

Stevens left full-time teaching in 1960 to dedicate his energies to running his music stores, where numerous parents bought musical instruments for their children and had them repaired.

"Our first store was at the corner of Glen Eyrie and Lincoln. ... Half of the store was a dry cleaners; it was very humble," his son said. "The clothes were all on one side, and on the opposite side we set up a counter and had a few musical items and records and stereos."

"Tom's store epitomized what Willow Glen was striving for: friendly, open, honest and dependable," McCreath said.

In the late 1950s, the store moved to 1202 Lincoln, into a building that had been an upscale market. The Stevenses sold the stores in 1984 and started the Stevens Violin Shop in the back of the music store.

In the early '90s, the building was transformed into the Music and Entertainment Business Center, which includes a recording studio, violin shop, booking agency, photographers' studio and a light and sound company.

Thomas Stevens also enjoyed trout fishing and was an avid pilot.

Stevens died of asthma with pneumonia complications, his son said. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Stevens of Saratoga; daughters and son-in-law Jeanne Miller of Antioch and Melinda and James Anderson of San Jose; son and daughter-in-law Gordon and Judith Stevens of San Jose; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Services were private. Memorial donations may be made to the San Jose Symphony Association, 495 Almaden Blvd., San Jose, 95110.

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