Karl Kent Stevens

Karl Kent Stevens was born to Janice and Virgil Stevens at their home in Melvern, Kansas on January 24th, 1939. That is the official story. But, seeing how he always felt different from a lot of the relatives, he liked to joke that he was sent here from another planet, which he named Mondo. That was classic Karl. He passed away at his home here in Durango on January 6th, 2025. In between those dates, he had a hell of a run. He told us often that he was blessed to have lived in these times and to have experienced such a wonderful life. We were blessed to have shared this life with him.

Karl was a true renaissance man. He was a brilliant person – a professor of mechanical engineering and oceanographic engineering, head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Florida Atlantic University, and finally Dean of the College of Engineering & Computer Science at FAU. He was widely travelled, a voracious reader, and an adventurer. He was a lover of art, architecture, and history. He was a poet, a writer, and a philosopher. He authored textbooks and published stories about his dogs. He was a man of science and yet had a keen interest in astrology. He was a dancer and a photographer. He had a refined aesthetic, yet he was never happier than when he was wearing an old pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, and a good pair of walking shoes. He saw beauty everywhere he looked – in the flowers, the wildlife, and animal shapes he saw in the gnarled remains of the pines that he would find on his walks. He loved animals – all wildlife, but none more than his dogs. He had an awesome respect for nature and felt compelled to help the animals any way he could. There is a sunflower farm somewhere in Kansas that will be going out of business now that he is no longer feeding the birds that frequented his yard. He was a firm believer in just causes and was generous to all who he felt needed it.

Karl was an amazing dad and grandfather, often in a quiet and understated way. Much of what he taught us was more by example than by anything he would say. He had a gift of expressing love in such an implicit manner. It was a gift for all of us to get to get to know him so much better over this last chapter of his life in Durango, to hear his amazing stories about his younger days and exploits, all told in incredible and sharp detail.

Karl was a great wit, had a sharp, wry sense of humor, and often delighted in being a bit ornery. He navigated social situations with ease, yet he thrived in solitude. When he was about 5 years old, his teacher asked the class to write about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Karl wrote that he wanted to be a hermit. He smiled as he said that he may not have even known at the time what a hermit was, but it sounded good to him.

Karl first visited Durango in 2004 when his sister and brother-in-law who were living here at the time enticed him to come out for a trout fishing trip. He always mentioned that he had never been very impulsive, but within two months he was closing on a lot and starting to plan his forever home here. He was never fully able to explain why he had done something that was so out of character for him, but the draw of this place was, in a way, a force of nature that compelled him to be here. He moved to Durango in 2011, right after his retirement.

Karl’s life was a beautiful circle. He loved to mention that his time here in Durango was so much like his young days in Kansas, both spent banging around in the woods and countryside with his dog. He found such peace and contentment in this life he built here. In the end, even with a whole lifetime of accomplishments and accolades, he was still that country boy from rural Kansas who wrote about one day being a hermit. He never wanted to leave this place, and we are all so thankful that he never had to. There was nowhere else in this world that he wanted to be. In the end, his passing was very much the way he would have scripted it. He is at peace.

Karl was loved by all who knew him – his family, his good friends, and his amazing neighbors. We are eternally grateful for everyone who befriended him, helped him and looked after him here in Durango.

Karl is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Charlotte and Chuck Arnett, his children and their spouses, Robin Stevens & Craig Hone, Scott & Karen Stevens, and Mike & Tina Stevens, grandchildren Corey, Jake, Sarah, Megan, Olivia, and Natalie Stevens, and greatgrandchildren Riley and Hayden Stevens. He is also survived by his best friend and constant companion – his dog Roxie.