Faces Of New Bedford – #58 – Frank Stephens

Meet Frank Stephens, 62-year-old security officer at St. Luke’s Hospital.

Frank was born in Kansas City, but grew up in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island. Upon graduating high school, he spent some time at Tennessee State University before transferring to American International College (AIC) in Springfield, where he received his degree in Business and Economics.

After getting married he relocated to New Bedford, where he fell in love with the city immediately. He worked for 14 years as a production manager of sonar at Raytheon. When the company sold the technology to the US government, Frank was laid off. Getting involved with the correction department, he started working at the Ash Street Prison.

During his 20 years with the Sheriff’s Department, he worked his way up to a Captain at the Dartmouth House of Corrections, a position he retired from earlier this year. He always treated his inmates the way he would want to be treated, so it was encouraging to run into them years later and see the impact he had in helping change their lives.

He also spent a good portion of time owning his own security business, which serviced notable clients such as Mo Vaughn, MC Hammer, as well as various New England Patriot’s and Boston Celtic’s players. This experience led him to taking a per diem position as a security officer for Southcoast Health, where he feels blessed to work. The hospital is like a small city and he loves to be able to help out in anyway that he can while there, even if that means getting water for a patient on a busy floor during rounds or walking staff to their cars at night.

“Follow the way of the Lord’s passages, do unto others you want to be done unto you. That goes a long way and it’s what allowed me to be fair in my time of security and corrections.”

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