GREG STEVENS

YARMOUTH – Greg Stevens, 58, husband, father, and president and founder of Stevens, Reed, Curcio, & Potholm, died Monday, April 16, 2007, at his home after a valiant battle with brain cancer. Greg was born Nov. 1, 1948, in Abington, Pa. He spent his younger years in New Jersey before moving to Turner. Greg graduated from Leavitt Institute, Turner, in 1967. Greg attended the University of Maine at Orono, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and president of the Class of 1971. After graduating from the University of Maine, Greg moved to New Jersey where he became a newspaper reporter for the former News Tribune of Woodbridge, N.J. A journalist by trade, Stevens came to politics during Pres. Gerald Ford’s 1976 re-election campaign, catching the eye of Ford’s New Jersey state director, Tom Kean. Stevens went on to work for Kean directly, as the press secretary for his 1977 New Jersey gubernatorial bid. Greg returned to Maine in 1978 to work for then Senate hopeful Bill Cohen. After Bill was elected, Greg moved to the Portland area to run his Maine offices. Greg moved to Washington, D.C., in January 1981 to become administrative assistant to then Congresswoman Olympia Snowe. In 1983, Greg returned to New Jersey to assume the position of chief of staff for then Gov. Tom Kean. After his work in New Jersey, Stevens joined Charlie Black and Lee Atwater at Campaign Consultants Inc. In 1988 he left to assume the position of political director for Roger Ailes’ Ailes Communications. It was in this position that Stevens produced the infamous Dukakis tank ad on behalf of George H.W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign. In 1993, Stevens founded his own firm, Greg Stevens & Co., which today exists as Stevens, Reed, Curcio, & Potholm. In this position Greg produced political ads, provided media consulting, and developed poli-tical strategy for candidates ranging from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to Sen. Mike Dewine R-Ohio. In 1993 Stevens produced the ads for George Allen’s upset victory in Virginia’s governor’s race. By many accounts Stevens’ most prized achievement was his role in John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign, most notably providing media ads for the senator’s stunning victory in New Hampshire. In 1999, Greg and his family fulfilled a long time dream and returned to his home state of Maine bringing his political passion with him. In 2003, he created all the advertising for the successful CasinoNo. In 2004, he co-chaired the Our House campaign; raising private funds to complete the stands at the new Yarmouth turf field without any public dollars spent. In 2005, Stevens was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. As in all other parts of his life, he resigned himself to conquering the obstacles that were presented to him and throughout the next 20 months waged an inspiring fight against the terminal disease. Stevens is remembered by friend and political foe alike as a man committed to his ideals, friends and his family above all else. Stevens is survived by his wife of 33 years, Judi Files Stevens of Yarmouth; his three sons, Clark, 26, of Washington, D.C., Brent, 21, and Luke, 19, of Yarmouth; his brother, Bruce Stevens and wife, Lottie, of Bar Harbor; his sister, Marie Cooper and her husband, Mark, of New Briton, Pa.; his sister, Ruth Ambrozaitis and her husband, Peter, of Woodstock, Conn.; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Dick and Ellen Files of Cumberland; sisters-in-law, Susan Tagg and husband, Jim, of Hampton Falls, N.H., and Deb Dumas and husband, Peter, of Scarborough; brother-in-law, Kip Files and wife, Lorraine DuBeau, of Rockland; and numerous nieces and nephews. Greg was predeceased by his mother, Bernice Brown Stevens A service is planned for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at First Parish Congregational Church, Yarmouth, with a memorial in the Washington, D.C., area at a later date. The Stevens family has set up a scholarship fund in Greg’s name at the University of Maine at Orono, where Stevens graduated as class president in 1971, and was, at the time of his death, a member of the board of visitors. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Greg Stevens Scholarship Fund, University of Maine, Development Office, 101 College Ave. Orono, ME 04473.