Betty Emma Stewart

Betty Booth Stewart, born in Meacham, Oregon died peacefully in her home in Beaverton at the age of 92. She had visited with all of her children and had completed her mail-in ballot for the November election. She attended the Meacham grade school, Pendleton High School, (1936), and Eastern Oregon College. A life long learner, she completed her Bachelor’s degree when she was forty-four. From that education shedeveloped a long career of teaching beginning in 1938 in a one-room school house on Cabbage Hill near Pendleton and continued in elementary schools in Meacham, Vale Ore., Helix, Ore. and Boise, Idaho. Later she taught adults through Laubach Literacy, O.S.U.Home Extension and her church. She had a magical ability to relate to a student, young or old, and stimulate learning. Betty was an author of two books and many essays and poems. She had roots in the Grande Ronde Valley that dated back to the 1860s, and she wrote a history of her birthplace in the Blue Mountains, Meacham: A Wide Spot on the Oregon Trail. A review of the book in the Oregon Historical Quarterly commented “….books such as Stewart’s rescue what is poised at the edge of remembering to ensure such rebirth will take place.” The area was also the primary locale for her memoir The Long Brown Stocking. For many years she was a catalyst and a support for her writing group. Betty was also a gifted seamstress. She sewed for her family, tailored her own suits and coats and was a quilter and embroiderer. She loved gardening and shared her flowers with Loaves and Fishes, her church crop cart and with friends and neighbors. Her garden balcony was enjoyed by many in the surrounding apartments. However, Betty’s primary dedication in life was raising her five children with her husband of 56 years, James Allen Stewart, (died 1998). They were married August 28, 1942 before he entered the army. Together they raised three daughters, Mary McCormick, Carol Stewart-Smith and Sue Ellen Stewart Jones and two sons, Mart Stewart and David Stewart. Betty cherished her children, sons and daughters in-law, nine grand children and six great grandchildren. She held them close to her heart, ever modeling her sense of equity and generosity. She was an active member of her church and walked her faith. Betty touched many lives with her love, her writing and teaching, and she will be deeply missed. Internment will be Nov. 9 at 1:30 in the Olney Cemetery in Pendleton, OR. A Celebration of Life service will be held Nov. 10 at the Calvin Presbyterian Church, Tigard. OR. All are welcome. In honor of Betty’s giving spirit and in lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the Oregon Food Bank online www.oregonfoodbank.org or to the Heifer Project online www.heifer.org