Auston O'Neal Stevison

Auston O’Neal Stevison, 87, a lifelong resident of Cleveland passed away at his home on Thursday, October 27, 2022.  Auston was born on October 22, 1935, to Mae Bell Helton Stevison and Famous Stevison.

After graduating from Bradley Central High School, he joined the U.S. Army in January 1955, serving in the 18^th Airborne Corp, Headquarters Detachment.  After leaving the military service, November 1958, Mr. Stevison began a long career as a homebuilder, developer, and entrepreneur.  As a homebuilder, Auston built over 1,000 homes and apartments in the Cleveland area.  In addition to those, he developed and built several apartment communities throughout the Cleveland/Bradley County area.  During this time, Auston became involved in the Cleveland Home Builders Association, serving as president in 1971 and 1972.  He was named “Builder of the Year” in 1977 by the Tennessee Home Builders Association.  He went on to become president of the Tennessee Home Builders Association in 1981, and from there, he was named to the National Board of Directors for the U.S. Homebuilders Association in 1982. 

As developer and entrepreneur, Auston developed and founded other businesses in Cleveland.  Two of note are the AAA Mini Storage and Tri-State Warehouses, businesses that are well known in the Cleveland area. 

In his youth, Auston was a determined and competitive basketball and baseball player.  He also played for the American Legion Post 81 baseball team and the Cleveland Independent Team, playing shortstop and batting lead-off.  Because of these honors, Auston was named to the Bradley County Hall of Fame in 2001.

Mr. Stevison had several hobbies and interests during his life.  He enjoyed traveling, and often vacationed in Florida and the Florida Keys.  He enjoyed sports and was a lifelong Tennessee Volunteers supporter.  Additionally, he was a licensed pilot, and was on the Airport commission for some time.  He enjoyed boating and spending his weekends on the Tennessee River.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Joanne Stevison Howell; and one grandchild, Adam Stevison.

He is survived his three sons, Stephen Stevison, Marcus Stevison and wife Beverly, and Jeffrey Stevison; five grandchildren, Lacy Nuciforo, Jonathan Stevison, Marc Stevison, Morgan Stevison, and Jaclyn Stevison; and one sister, Bonnie Ledford.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 5, 2022, in the chapel of Ralph Buckner Funeral Home and Crematory.    Military honors will conclude the service in the chapel.

The family will receive friends from 11-1 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to the charity of your choice in his honor.

We invited you to send a message of condolence and view the Stevison family guestbook at www.ralphbuckner.com.