Francis Elon Stewart, Sr.
Francis Elon Stewart, Sr., 88, died Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 after an extended illness.
A memorial service is planned for early spring. That is in keeping with Mr. Stewart’s wishes that such a service be a celebration of his life, remembered by his family and friends at a time separated from their grief surrounding his going home.
Born in Clay County, Iowa, in 1923 to Luther Samuel Stewart and Grace Prichard Stewart, Mr. Stewart moved to Georgia with his family at age 12 during the Great Depression. He resided in Georgia most of his life, making his home at Marietta, Monticello, Decatur and in Pickens County as he progressed along life’s journey.
He graduated from Acworth High School in 1940 and then attended the University of Georgia for a year. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force, 448th Bomb Squadron, and served in North Africa and Italy during World War II and rose to sergeant’s rank in two years. The devastation of war he witnessed as a service man and its effect on people led Mr. Stewart into Christian ministry upon his return from overseas.
He graduated from Mercer University at Macon and from Crozer Theological Seminary near Philadelphia. In the 1950s and early 1960s Stewart pastored Monticello Baptist Church. The Monticello Church honored Mr. Stewart at its 200th anniversary in 2008. Mr. Stewart was called to leave the ministry and serve in other ways. He found work in government. He served as Senior Policy Analyst in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget during the administrations of governors Lester Maddox, Jimmy Carter, George Busby and Joe Frank Harris.
Following his retirement from state work, the Stewarts moved to Pickens County in 1990. Despite his access to governors, Stewart’s heart was always for the little guy. He milked cows as an Iowa farm boy. He sold bibles to earn money for college. He ran a filling station as a teenager. He never forgot what it felt like to work hard for a living. He never lost his compassion for the overlooked or his sense that the obligatory responsibility of government is to serve all citizens equally and justly.
Mr. Stewart was a member of the First Baptist Church of Jasper. He volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and the Bethany-Salem Volunteer Fire Department, taking photos and penning newspaper articles about Habitat home construction and fire responses.
He participated as an active member of the Pickens County Master Gardeners, the Georgia Native Plant Society and the Georgia Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society. An expert on flowering native woodland plants, Mr. Stewart enjoyed cultivating them. His knowledge and his flowers became gifts he shared. He volunteered with Keep Pickens Beautiful. And for as long as his health allowed, he could be counted on in Sunday school.
Mr. Stewart cared about his community and about serving it in ways
he could.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Clarice Phillips Stewart, their three children, two grandchildren, step grandchildren, step great-grandchildren, and by his three sisters.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to the First Baptist Church of Jasper, the Good Samaritan Center, CARES of Pickens County, and Habitat for Humanity.
A loving man, a loved man, Francis Stewart will be greatly missed. Arrangements by SouthCare Cremation Society and Memorial Centers in Marietta 770-420-5557.