Martha Stewart

Martha Irene Stewart, 88, died Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at Eunice Smith Nursing Home in Alton. Born March 3, 1929 in Mattoon, IL, she was the daughter of Truman and Margaret (Champion) May. After growing up in Edwardsville and earning a degree in education from Washington University in St. Louis, she married Gerald J. Stewart in Edwardsville. He preceded her in death in 2002 after 51 years of marriage. In addition to her parents, preceding her in death was her sister, Carol Bonham. She is survived by a daughter, Barbara Severson of Prague, Czech Republic; two sons, David Stewart of Boulder, CO, and James Stewart and his wife, Angela, of Albuquerque, NM; six grandchildren: Sean and Andrea Prada of Minneapolis, MN, Stephanie (Steve) Barnes of University Place, WA, Jacob Severson of Fargo, ND, Jason Stewart of Austin, TX, and Adam Stewart of Albuquerque, NM; as well as four great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Martha served as school teacher in the Alton School District for 32 years. For most of those years she taught third or fourth grade at McKinley-Delmar, Lewis & Clark, and Eunice Smith elementary schools. She was a member of Godfrey First United Methodist Church; prior to that she was a long-time member of Alton First United Methodist Church (formerly Metropolitan United Methodist) and was part of the Alton church’s integration with Godfrey First. She was very active in the church throughout her life, singing in the choir, participating in and hosting many church circle meetings, serving in the United Methodist Women faith organization, leading Bible studies as well as the book club, and helping out in many other ways including the annual church rummage sales. In addition to these activities, she enjoyed singing with the Joy Singers, and she loved reading books, cross-stitching, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.

Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until noon Saturday, October 7, 2017 at Godfrey First United Methodist Church. A funeral service will follow at noon with Pastor Steven Friese officiating. Burial will be at Valhalla Memorial Park in Godfrey. Memorials may be made to the Crisis Food Center (http://www.crisisfoodcenter.org) or Senior Services Plus (http://www.seniorservicesplus.org). Gent Funeral Home in Alton is in charge of arrangements. An online guestbook and more information may be found at www.gentfuneralhome.com.