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Volume 23 Issue 2 September 2015
Stewart Fall Reunion Saturday, October 24
11:30 AM
Wilke Estate - BonneTerre, MO
Please mark your calendars to join the family for a THANKSGIVING THEME pot luck lunch on Saturday, October 24 at Sue and Ken Wilke’s house in Bonne Terre. We’ll be gathering at 11:30 am; lunch will be served at Noon.
We believe this will mark the first time we've had a Thanksgiving Day celebration at one of our homes since Jess and Marie did such an excellent job of it so many years ago. Sue and Ken are delighted to resurrect the the plan. We are hoping to have some returning relations present who haven't been with us for many years.
RSVP: Please RSVP to [email protected] so Sue and Ken ensure adequate seating.
BRING: Paper/plastic plates, cups, utensils, drink of choice for your family, and something to contribute to the menu.
(For more details on what to bring for the menu, please refer to Page 10).
Page �1
The Stewart Family Bulletin Lucille * Paul * Jess * Olive * Martha * John * Clifford * Clark * Mary * Joe * David
No Thanksgiving??
If you missed the Stewart Family Summer Reunion held this year at the home of Dave and Marti (Wilke) Bates over the Memorial Day weekend, then you missed the important COUSINS SUMMIT held there amongst the several (8-9 out of the 28 of the original Wm/Mabel Stewart grandchildren) in attendance.
The results: Citing travel, time, clean-up, weather, and other issues attendant on traveling over the Thanksgiving Day holiday, it was the decision of this group that we move the Fall Stewart Reunion from Thanksgiving Day to a more travel-friendly time in October. The final decision was solidified when Bill Stewart observed that since we were celebrating the original July 4th summer date on Memorial Day, that celebrating Thanksgiving in October would keep us closer to the original timeframes established by our Stewart grandparents. The only concern expressed at our "Summit" was the desire to keep with the Thanksgiving menu.
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
Page �2
Lucille Stewart Kleppsattel Family
Val Stewart Vogeler reports there isn’t really any news except that she and Phil are doing well. Nanette has had a prolonged break from work in North Augusta, SC after a work related injury that resulted in a complicated fractured wrist/arm. She managed to deliver a litter of Sheltie pups during her "time off" and has been enjoying the new additions to her family...until they are adopted into loving homes. No shortage of Shelties at her house, even once the new pups are adopted. She is back to teaching puppy classes and Sheltie rescue responsibilities. John has (or will be) retiring shortly.
Phil and I are still doing our "retirement" jobs, amidst gardening and camping in our beautiful Colorado Front Range environment. Float trips/hiking adventures with Jody and Kevin in Oregon and mushroom hunting/ camping with Josh and Trina here in Colorado make our lives fulfilling and adventuresome. Trips back to the cabin and family in Missouri happen every several months when jobs allow. Hoping to bring Uncle Dave back to Missouri with us on a trip soon....you never know???
Lisa, Jim , and David came for a visit from Casper on Lisa's birthday weekend this summer and we had a great time. Other more recent visits have been related to sick pet needs, and we were very sorry to hear that David's beloved companion, Emma, has passed away in the last week.
John Stewart Family
News from Sarah Kleppsattel. “It was great to meet-up with Mary and her family in Edinburgh a few months back. The day was glorious and Mary spotted me straight away (having the dog helped), and we quickly settled into the stunning backdrop of Arthur's Seat and the Parliament Building to hang out and get to know one another. We had a wonderful time chatting and watching all the dogs romp (my Dora was amazing everyone with her ability to hold the most balls in her mouth!) and it was so fun. We then moved on to a huge table in a nearby dog-friendly cafe and they treated me to a meal. It was a rather perfect few hours and I am so glad it happened. I hope to see them (and other relatives!)
again. Have a good reunion”!
Notes ‘ News
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
Page �3
JUST GIVE ME THE SIMPLE LIFE
Sherry, Randy, Bailey, Shaw Moore and Mary Stewart MacKenzie spent two weeks in the United Kingdom and had a great time. Mary reports they spent a week in London touring the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, all and the sites they could fit in a week. The Moore family took the Chunnel to Paris for one day. They went to Oxford University for a day, spending the night in one of the dorms they rent out during the summer break. Then they were off to Cardiff, and Tintern Abbey in Wales, Bath and Stonehenge in southern England and finally flying to Edinburgh for three days. Bailey wants to live in London, and Shaw doesn't particularly care if she goes back or not.
Margaret Lawless retired from teaching at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year. She was the orchestra director at West Junior High School (later West Middle School) and Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri. During her years at Hickman the orchestra program grew in size from 31 members of a single orchestra to 71 members in two separate ensembles, both of which received a "I" rating at the State Large Ensemble Festival. Her husband Allen accepted a position of Quality Manager for Pharmedium in Cleveland, Mississippi where the couple now lives with their three dogs and one parrot. Margaret wishes everyone to know that their guest room is always open to anyone traveling down to New Orleans!
Notes ‘ News, continued
John Harden (son of Mary Stewart MacKenzie) has given up the city life to live off the land, south of Festus, MO. He and Cheri raise chickens for eggs and have a 2000 sf garden, but much of what they preserve is wild foraged edibles. They’d rather eat what they can
find in the wild or grow it ourselves than buy it from the store.
Included in their endeavors are home-canning or drying what they harvest from the garden. John reports they try to preserve their harvest in a versatile way to be used over the course of the next year. John has been studying herbal medicines and techniques for 15 years and gets a real sense of satisfaction when a friend or family member comes to him and asks for something medicinal. In addition to canning, John and Cheri also enjoy making beer and wine. John says one of their favorite things to do is make beer, wine, vinegars, soaps and candles.
John reports that most of what they need, if they can make it themselves, they do. John is an experienced carpenter and can weld, plumb, etc. Cheri, apart from being very crafty, has a very creative mind. Together, their skills and desire to be self-sufficient, along with a great working relationship makes life a lot of fun and gratifying.
Our goal with all of this is to live well, experience the best of life, and gain a sense of self-satisfaction doing it; part of that is cooking. We love to cook, invent recipes, and try new things.
- John Harden
Cliff Stewart Family
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
Page �4
Stewart Houpt (son of Salle Stewart) married Valerie Cooper on July 25 at Centenary Methodist church in Bonne Terre, the same church Stewart’s grandparents, Jean and Clark Stewart were married in by the Rev William Stewart many years ago. Sue and Ken Wilke were gracious in providing their home for the reception. Valerie brings with her three wonderful children into the Stewart family - Emily (16), Sophie (11), and Jared (8). Stewart and Valerie, the kids and sweet dog, Baxter, are making their home in Lakewood, Washington, where Stewart is stationed with the Army.
Jim Hurst is recovering from major back surgery on September 15th. After waiting for a 3 hour delayed start time and enduring a 6 hour surgery, Jim is a bit exhausted but is doing well and is able to walk with assistance. He is looking forward to getting back to normal activities soon.
Recruit Zachary Hurst (son of Jamie Hurst, grandson of Jim & Sandy Hurst) departed in August for bootcamp in the Marines, stationed in San Diego CA. As expected, it was an abrupt change in day-to-day life but he reports that overall, he is happy with his decision to enlist in the Marines and has already made friends that he'll "keep for life".
Mary Stewart Hurst Family
Clark Stewart Family
Notes ‘ News, continued
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY STEWART #7.3.2.1
Announcing Miss Emaline Mae Stewart
Daughter of Aaron and Nicole Stewart (granddaughter of Mike and Nancy Stewart),
Emaline was born May 25, 2015 in Eugene, OR
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
Page �5
DAVID DECLUE, aka “Davey Joe”
David DeClue was the third child and sole son of Martha (Stewart) and Ted DeClue. After graduating from Southeast Missouri State University in 1966, David married Maureen McKendree and they began their trek through Air Force bases across the country: Texas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Georgia, California, and New Mexico. With a degree in physics, David was initially sent to the SAC Air Force base in Omaha, where among other duties, he began work on the very early computer programs the military had developed. He could have stayed there and done so much interesting work, but he just could not pass up the opportunity to become a pilot.
After training, he was deployed to Vietnam for two tours. When he returned, we all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the danger had passed. Tragically, we were mistaken.
Following a service in Alamogordo NM, his remains were returned to Bonne Terre, where his burial was accompanied by the ultimate Air Force salute to a fallen comrade: the missing man formation performed by jets from Scott Air Force Base.
Maureen and David delighted in their only child, Michelle, who was three when her father died. Michelle is now married to her own David (Duerst) and has two daughters, Alley and Sidney. Every now and then I see little pieces of my brother in a twinkling eye, a smile, or a quick expression that appears on the three faces of David's descendants. What joy that is!
The following is an article I wrote while in college, providing a sister’s perspective of my brother.
A FAMILY PROFILE
By Sue DeClue Wilke
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
Page �6
My brother generally held sway over me by virtue of being eighteen months older, and by his hallowed place as the only boy in a family with four daughters. If he
and I played together, we operated under David’s rules.
One snowy February evening, my brother suggested a quick sled ride before supper. After a few trips down the hill outside our house on A Street, street lights flickered on, telling us it was time to go. Always seeking excitement, David proposed we make our last ride a “grand finale” down the biggest challenge offered in our sphere of operations: Pine Street Hill. I demurred. Pine Street, extremely steep, fraught with danger, ran directly into Highway 47, where cars would be zooming by as twilight hurried into night. However, David assured me all would be well. To guarantee our safety, he would ride with me and steer a safe course for us both, with the added benefit of increased speed from the bulk of two bodies on one sled. Reluctantly, I agreed. Any final protest I might have made died as David pushed us off and flopped down on top of me.
Down we went! It was a thrilling ride. My apprehension returned, however, as Highway 47 loomed ahead and our sled showed no signs of stopping. “Hold on, Sue!” shouted David, “I’ll steer her to the side of the road!” That fateful turn plunged us into a foot-deep stream of raw sewage running along the side of the highway. Again realizing the sheer folly of putting myself in the hands of this dedicated thrill seeker, I trudged home, thick ropy strands of waste
covering my hair, face, and shoulders. My companion escaped submersion by jumping off my back as I hit the drink. He skipped along beside me, overcome with curiosity. “What did it taste like?’ he wanted to know. David, the thrill seeker, always wanted to know every aspect of life: the taste, the smell, the feel of it all. He rushed to meet new encounters with an open heart, an open mind, and open hands. He wanted to encompass all.
Actually the only small detail about David was his size. However, his diminutive form did not stop his determined efforts to grab any chance there was to experience on the largest scope possible. He preferred generous servings of life, responding in an equally generous manner that would broaden his horizons. When he was 12, for example, he took our 1953 Pontiac for a spin around the block. I recall the shock of watching this seemingly self-propelled “phantom car” round the corner and head down the hill to our front sidewalk. Then I spied David in the driver’s seat, his little head sticking out the side window because he could not see over the wheel. Our father flew into an understandable rage. David made an impassioned petition for mercy, basing his defense on “irresistible impulse”: “I just had to do it, Dad,” said David.
Most of David’s impulses were of the irresistible variety. One spring he broke my arm by tying a rope around my ankles and tugging it when I tried to escape.
THE GIFT
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
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He and my cousin (a DeClue NOT a Stewart!), curious if torture would result in my leaving them sole dominion of the back yard, had meant no harm, of course. Despite this incautious lapse of concern, David truly cared for me, for he was a loving, happy person, who enjoyed giving fun and pleasure to others. The Halloween following my six-week bout with hepatitis provided a prime example of his magnanimity. I was not allowed to hit the Trick/Treat circuit that night. Though I judged my 8-year-old self fit for travel, Mother did not. David eagerly donned his annual bum costume, leaving without a backward glance. I spent a depressing evening, bemoaning the loss of that once-a-year opportunity to load up on scads of free goodies.
David returned some time later, bragging about his “big haul.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, pretending not to notice as he spilled his large sack of plunder across the breadth of the coffee table. “Take half,” he said to me casually, “I don’t need it all.”
My brother is dead now. Just that quickly, with no warning, his plane hit the side of a mountain in New Mexico. Remembrances he and I treasured, times only he and I shared, are dead too, because some memories have to be shared to be memories. The brief time he spent with all who knew him remains a bright space filled with lots of laughing, lots of loving. David packed a great deal into his 29 years. He had become what he most desired: an Air Force pilot of F4 Phantom Jets, the perfect end for an early thrill seeker. Lots of people live lives twice as long and never approximate the joy and satisfaction David experienced. For some reason, these recollections of David’s short life make me think of him and that Halloween candy: “Take half,” he had said, “I don’t need it all.”
THE GIFT - continued
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
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“AUNT MARTHA”
Family Historian, Mary Stewart MacKenzie
We've all heard the stories about Aunt Martha Adams, Grandmother Stewart's aunt who raised her after her father died and her mother was unable to care for all of the children on her own. There is some description of Aunt Martha and Uncle Jim Adams in Grandfather Stewart's book, "Mindful of Man."
The book states Uncle Jim and Aunt Martha had had ten children, and all but one died in infancy, and the child who survived only lived ten years. I have learned that this is only partially true.
Martha Ann Porter, sister of William P. Porter, was born January 20, 1842, in Perry County, Tennessee. In 1857, at the age of 15, she married Isaac J. Stewart, also in Perry County, Tennessee.
When the Porter family moved to Missouri around 1860, Martha and Isaac accompanied them.
Martha and Isaac Stewart were the parents of the ten children noted above. Isaac Stewart died July 4, 1889, in Ripley County, not far from Oxly. She would later marry James Adams.
James Adams, was born in Graves County, Kentucky in 1838. He married in Graves County and had seven children by his first wife Nancy. She died in 1882, and he married Sue in 1883. They moved to Oxly, Missouri in 1885 and he began his business enterprises. Unfortunately, Sue died in July 1889, leaving him a single parent again, with businesses to run.
Mary Jane (married John W. Wescoat), Martha Ann (married James E. Adams), Sarah Francis “Sally” (married James Franklin Wescoat)
FAMILY HISTORY
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
Page �9
Family History, continued
A memoir written by Eliza Adams, daughter of James Adams, describes what it was like to have yet another step mother:
"Before she died, Sue told Father that she wanted him to marry again, that he needed the help of a good wife. He lost no time in obeying her wishes.
Within a short time Father would be away from home evenings, sometimes as late as 10 o'clock or later. This was very unusual for Father. At first he told us he was going to see a sick friend, a Mason. Father was a Mason. He may have at first. We knew no different. December, he told us that he was bringing another mother home. He was to marry Mrs. Stewart, whose husband had died the last of July, only a short time from Sue's death.
Of course he ordered a big dinner cooked, all the in-laws were to be invited, mostly his wife's people, as he had none here. So again big preparations were made.
The big day came, on December 8, 1889, father was married for the third time to Mrs. Martha A. Stewart.
Mother, as we called our second step mother, was very different from Sue, our first step mother, both in physique and temperament. Mother was a large rather fleshy woman, while Sue was small and skinny. Mother had a temper which at times gave uncontrolled annoyance to all around, while Sue was very quiet.
Father and Mother had not been married long, a few years, when a brother of Mother's died and left eight or nine children. They did
not live near us, but soon after the brother’s death the wife came to this part of the state, as she had little means, it became hard for her to keep her children, so the relatives took some of them, some were large enough to make their own way.
Mother took one of the small girls, Mabel. She was about 4 years old, I think, when she came to live with us, or rather with Aunt Martha, for she was distinctly Mother's girl, she had sole charge of her. About the same time Father had taken on an orphan boy, and kept him for awhile. He and Mabel were near the same age. While Mother was never cross with us I can remember when she would punish those children severely, and we thought very unjustly, and we would gladly have entreated for them, but we knew that we did not dare.
I do not know how well off Mother was financially. She owned a farm 2 1/2 miles from town, and I am sure she had some cash. I'm equally sure that she managed her own money affairs.
Martha Adams died October 2, 1920 of malaria. Mother left a will leaving everything to Father. This was a surprise to all of us. I supposed that she would leave what she had to Mabel, the niece she raised, and I think they expected it too. I was sorry that she had not done so. Mother had 10 children by her first husband but raised none of them. During her and Father's life together they had given a home to 9 orphans. Father's children had all left home. These nine, her own ten and five stepchildren made 24 children she had mothered.”
The Stewart Family Bulletin September 2015
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Since we have no idea how many will be coming for this new time and we won’t have the luxury of the equipment and supplies of a commercial kitchen, “The Committee” suggests we plan a Thanksgiving THEME rather than an assignment sheet.
Some points to consider: • Bring your dishes fully prepared and ready to serve. • Be sure to bring serving utensils for your prepared dish. • We will be able to reheat or chill dishes prior to the meal, assuming you arrive in plenty of time to have it
ready for the NOON meal time. (If you need to reheat something, please remember to bring it in an ovenproof dish).
• Anyone or combination of people who might feel called to do the Waldorf Salad, you might think about how it can be prepped prior to arriving. We really won’t have the space to do much prep that morning.
• Since we won't be at the church, wine/beer or other spirits will be allowed and should be considered by those who prefer something specific with their meal/afternoon entertainment.
Here is what we have thus far:
Stewart Fall Reunion Menu
Person Contribution
Mary Hurst NOTHING…an honored guest
Sue & Ken Mashed potatoes; turkey gravy
Diane & Jim Whole turkey
Donna & Fitz One ham
Marti & David Unable to attend
Belinda & Mike Dressing
Salle Stewart Sweet potatoes; banana cream pie
Sue & Dominick Wine
