Agnes Stephan

Agnes Lorraine Stephan, known as Johni to her friends, passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. The family is being cared for by Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Cedar Rapids.

Visitation will be held from 9-10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at All Saints Catholic Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 a.m. and a luncheon will follow at the church. Burial will be held after lunch at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.

She was born Agnes Johnson in Spalding, Nebraska, on December 27, 1930, to Madeline and Carl E. Johnson. She was the younger sister of Ethel Rita and Edward (“Bud”), and the older sister of Bernard, Louis, and Doris. Two of her siblings died in infancy.

Agnes attended a one-room schoolhouse in Wheeler County, Nebraska, walking or riding in a buggy to school. Like many of her generation, she completed her education through the eighth grade, but she was a lifelong learner. She especially loved reading and passed that love on to her daughters.

Before settling in Cedar Rapids in the mid-1950s, Agnes held several jobs in Ohio, Nebraska, and Texas. She worked at Collins Radio, where she met her husband, Leo Stephan, who called on Collins for his business, Iowa Midland Supply. They married on her birthday in 1958—Agnes’s way of ensuring Leo would never forget their anniversary.

Devoted Iowa Hawkeye fans, they honeymooned at the 1959 Rose Bowl and continued to travel often for Hawkeye sporting events, the Indianapolis 500, and the Amana VIP. After their marriage, they lived on a houseboat in Davenport, Iowa, before making their home in Cedar Rapids. In later years, they also enjoyed time at their homes in Cherokee Village, Arkansas, and Park Rapids, Minnesota. Their Park Rapids cabin—affectionately known as the Holiday House—was a gathering place where they loved to entertain business associates who inevitably became friends, along with their children and extended family.

Through Catholic Charities, Agnes and Leo adopted their daughters, Elizabeth (Beth) and Veronica “Roni”, in 1967 and 1969. In the four years following Roni’s adoption, they also fostered 12–14 expectant mothers through Catholic Charities. These young women helped care for the girls and made heirloom Christmas ornaments with Agnes. Agnes stayed in touch with many of them for the rest of her life.

Agnes was known to many as the “library lady,” volunteering in the office and library at All Saints School for more than 40 years. In recognition of her dedication, she received the Friend of Literacy Certificate of Appreciation from the Cedar Rapids Council of the International Reading Association. In 1987, she accepted the Governor’s Volunteer Award from Governor Branstad, and in 1995, she was nominated by All Saints School for the Golden Rule Award, conferred by President Clinton. She also volunteered quietly and faithfully at Mercy Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital gift shops—always behind the scenes, always helping.

In addition to reading, Agnes enjoyed crafting, playing cards, traveling, and working all kinds of puzzles. She took macramé classes with both daughters and calligraphy classes with Roni. She was a proud “barn mom,” supporting Beth at horse shows throughout the Midwest for more than a dozen years—cleaning tack, braiding manes, and mucking stalls. In recent years, she traveled to see Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell and treasured a 2024 girls’ weekend with her daughters and nieces at a Hallmark Christmas Weekend in Kansas City.

Over the past several years, her grandsons Leo and Augie Bruner spent meaningful time staying with her. Their presence filled her home with laughter, purpose, and the energy of family and friends. They cared for her and enriched her life in immeasurable ways.

Agnes is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth Stephan (Rich Zabel) and her children Leo and Augie Bruner and Ashley and Oscar Fernandez; Roni Swift (Tom) and stepson, Kirk Stephan and daughter, Stephanie Stephan (Mitsja Maliangkaij); sister-in-law, Harriett Johnson; great-grandchildren, Arthur Stephan-Maliangkaij, Adriel and Amyra Martinez, and Luna Fernandez; and many nieces and nephews in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Virginia, along with their children.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Leo Stephan, in 2000; her parents; her siblings; nieces, Janice Leitschuck and Teri Grimm; and nephew, Kent Grimm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: https://www.cff.org/donate.

The family wishes to extend heartfelt thanks to Krista and Kirk Woltman and the staff of The Caregivers, who treated Agnes like family during the last year of her life.