Robert Rex Stephenson

October 21, 1943 – August 13, 2025

Robert Rex Stephenson, age 81 of Ferrum (1943-2025) passed away on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 surrounded by his family and friends. Rex was born October 21, 1943 in Muncie, Indiana to the late Martha Jean and Robert B. Stephenson. Rex is survived by his brother, Phillip; his daughters, Janice Lynn Watkins, Jessica Anne Stephenson and Juliet Rose Stephenson; two grandchildren, Haley Jones and Joshua Watkins; a niece and nephew; and hundreds of students and performers to whom he was a beloved mentor and friend.

Rex is best known for his long and illustrious career at Ferrum College, in Ferrum, Virginia, where he taught drama and directed plays from 1973 to 2025. He held degrees from Ball State University and Indiana University, and earned a doctorate in theatre from New York University. He began his career as an educator in 1966, teaching English, speech, government, and drama at Redkey High School in Redkey, Indiana. In addition to Ferrum College, Rex taught at New York University, Bretton Academy of the Performing Arts in England, Longwood College, Radford University, and the University of Virginia.

Rex produced and published more than 25 original plays, which included historical dramas, adaptations of classic literature, musical revues, and dramatized folktales. In 1975, Rex founded the Jack Tale Players and was actively touring with the troupe, sharing Appalachian folktales and music until the end of his life. In addition to the more than 3,000 Jack Tale shows in which he performed around the United States and in England, Rex also toured the country starring in original plays depicting Richard III and Mark Twain.

In 1979, Rex’s play Too Free for Me became the first production of the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre, which he established and led as Artistic Director until 2012 and revived in 2023. Among the awards he received were the prestigious Sara Spencer Child Drama Award from the Southeastern Theatre Conference in 2007, a 1990 Award for Outstanding Teaching in Appalachia, and several playwriting awards.

Rex was named Professor Emeritus at Ferrum College in 2013. In 2023, the Rex Stephenson Theatre was dedicated in Schoolfield Hall on the Ferrum College campus along with an archive gallery honoring and celebrating Rex’s legacy.

A celebration of Rex’s extraordinary life will take place on Saturday, August 23, 2025, on the Ferrum College campus. A funeral service will be held in Vaughn Chapel, with visitation at 10 am and service at 11 am. A reception will follow in the Rex Stephenson Theatre on the first floor of Schoolfield Hall. Click here to RSVP.

A link for livestream of the funeral service will be available later.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Ferrum College Music and Theatre Department (at this link).

Arrangements by Flora Funeral Service and Cremation Center, Rocky Mount.

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