Venetta (Neta) Rowlison Stephens, passed away peacefully, Monday, March 16, 2026, at home with her husband, Gary Lee Stephens, and son, John Rowlison Stephens, by her side. She was 75 years old.

Her surviving brother, Kendall Rowlison, lives in St. Peters, MO.

Neta was preceded in death by her parents Bonnie and Ernest (Ernie) Rowlison, sister Marsha Rowlison, and brothers Douglas and Michael Rowlison.

Born March 2, 1951, Neta grew up in the small town of Edina, Missouri, located in the northeast corner of the state. Neta received her bachelor’s degree from Central Methodist College in 1973. Her degree was in teaching with an emphasis on history. She later received her master’s degree from Old Dominion University in 1991.

Neta met Gary while they were both enrolled at Central Methodist College. They remained married for 53 years. Their son joined them in the summer of 1980. John lives in Norfolk, Virginia, and is an architect at Work Program Architects.

Neta started her teaching career at Delta High School, in Delta, Missouri; close to her home in Jackson, Missouri, located in the southeast corner of the state. She taught there for ten years. In 1986, the company Gary worked for changed management after the founder’s death. Gary, seeing writing on the wall, accepted a job with Leitch Video of America in Chesapeake, Virginia. Neta and Gary moved from Jackson to Chesapeake in May of 1986. Neta quickly secured a position at Great Bridge High School teaching special education. She taught there for 27 years before her retirement in 2013.

Neta was very active in Alpha Delta Kappa, a national sorority that empowers women educators to advance educational excellence, altruism, and world understanding. She served many positions in the local chapter, including President and Vice President.

Neta was passionate with her hobbies, flower gardening, bird feeding, genealogy, and travel. The semi-wild garden in her backyard that explodes to life with flowers every spring is a testament to her passion. Her enjoyment of flowers was such an integral part of her life that one year, she and two friends traveled to the Chelsea Flower Show in London for five days of flowers! She was also active with the Chesapeake Master Gardner’s.

Neta made sure that the local birds, squirrels, and associated backyard ecosystem never went for more than a day without food and water. She tended to 17+ bird feeding stations throughout the front and back yards of her home. Gary, while not as big a fan of feeding, stepped in as head feeder when Neta traveled out of town Recently, Neta was fascinated with her newest feeder, a Bird Buddy, that would send 30 second video clips of visiting birds to her mobile phone.

Neta spent years researching the genealogy of the Brown and Rowlison families, tracing them back to European origin. Last summer, she and John traveled to northeast Missouri to locate all the small cemeteries that she had traced to her ancestry.

Neta and Gary loved travel. This is evident on their refrigerator that is absolutely covered in keepsake magnets. They visited many of the iconic national parks out west with their good friends, Don and Peggy. In 2023, Neta, Gary, and John took a Grand European Tour Viking River Cruise to celebrate their 50th year of marriage. They embarked in Amsterdam, sailed through Germany and Austria, and disembarked in Budapest. In 2025, Neta and Gary, took a British Isles Explorer Viking Ocean Cruise with a three-night stayover in Reykjavik, Iceland. They so loved Iceland that they were planning a return trip to explore the Ring Road.

Visitation will be Tuesday, March 24, 2026, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home and Crematory - Great Bridge Chapel (524 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA).

Celebration of Life will be Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at 11:00 AM at Great Bridge United Methodist Church (201 Stadium Drive, Chesapeake, VA). Neta was very active in the church choir has asked the choir to sing its rendition of “In the Garden”.