Oscar Humberto Stevens Sr., international import and export businessman and a pioneer of Spanish-language radio and television programs in Arizona and Northern Mexico, died June 8 at home. He was 90.
“He died peacefully surrounded by his family,” said son Humberto N. Stevens, of the family patriarch who married Aurora Varela 55 years ago. The couple raised six children and had 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Oscar and Aurora Stevens with their children in Nogales, Sonora, for the National Radio Broadcasters of Mexico Awards in April 2011.
“My father was always bigger than life to me,” said his son. “An energetic and cheerful man who greeted all and lit up most any room where he stood. An entrepreneur, a public figure and community leader, but foremost a loving son, husband and father. He held me in his arms with joy, to shelter me, and in his final days to say for the last time that he loved me.”
Stevens was born Jan. 28, 1932, in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, and his parents moved the family to Ciudad Juárez where as a teenager Stevens learned about radio production from his uncle Trini Ríos, a well known radio personality.
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Stevens studied in El Paso, attending Cathedral High School, becoming a naturalized citizen, and after he graduated in 1950, he joined the Air Force, serving for three years. He was assigned to the B-47 StratoJet Bomber squadron and was eventually assigned to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 1952.
When he was not on duty at the base, Stevens worked as a program director and radio announcer on KEVT-AM, the first Spanish-language radio station in Tucson. Listeners were attracted to his voice, and the audience grew as Stevens played mariachi, classical ranchera, boleros and norteño music.
Oscar Humberto Stevens Sr., left, representing KXEW as founder/co-owner and station manager, with Mario Moreno, aka Cantinflas.
In 1963, he was co-owner …….