Stephen grew up in Hammersmith, Kensington, Chelsea and Brook Green. Money was short, and he had to leave school at the age of 11 or 12 to help financially in the upbringing of his younger brothers and sisters.
In 1914, when World War I started, Stephen joined the Royal Engineers Regiment of the British Army - the "sappers", as they were known - and was sent to France. Sappers endured the most atrocious conditions and were always the last to leave an area when a retreat was taking place, blowing up roads and bridges behind them so as to slow up pursuit by enemy forces. During one such British evacuation, Stephen carried a wounded man to safety on his back, under gunfire, and was awarded the Military Medal.
After the war, Stephen was trained as a builder by his grandfather, Thomas Hussey, and his uncle, Will Hussey. Stephen later formed a partnership with a Mr. Worman (Worman and Hussey), eventually setting up his own building company, Hussey Bros. (Builders) Ltd., on Queensway, Bayswater, London, with his brothers, Martin and Austin. The company was mostly involved in the building of churches, schools and convents, and for many years, Hussey Bros. had a maintenance contract with Westminster Cathedral. During World War II, once the German air assault on London started, the brothers worked mostly under official government contract on emergency repair and safety building work. After the war, the company built several modern churches.
In 1947, Stephen and his wife, Mary, decided that their daughters would be better off living in Ireland, and so the girls moved to Dublin, the plan being that Stephen and Mary would initially remain in London and eventually retire to Dublin. Stephen and Mary sold their home in Barnes, moved into a flat over the premises of Hussey Bros. in Bayswater, and purchased a house in Roebuck Road in Clonskeagh for their daughters. However on an extended visit to the girls' new home, Mary became ill and died in Dublin.
After Mary's death, Stephen visited Dublin more and more frequently. In 1957, with Maureen married, and Una and Brigie about to be married, he decided to sell the house on Roebuck Road, and a smaller house on Cedarmount Road in Mount Merrion was purchased. In the 1960s Stephen retired to Dublin, and for the remainder of his life he lived with Sheila at 14 Cedarmount Road.