Obituary of Jessie Stewart

Atalissa, Iowa

Jessie Stewart, 100, formerly of Atalissa and West Liberty passed away Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at the home of her daughter  in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Funeral service will be held 10 A.M. Saturday August 4, 2018 at the Henderson-Barker Funeral Home in West Liberty. Visitation will be Friday from 4 to 7 P.M. at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Overman Cemetery, Atalissa. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.hendersonbarkerfuneralhome.com.

Jessie Pearl Arnold was born to Otis and Erma (Van Horn) Arnold in the home of her grandparents, Jesse and Eugenia Van Horn, on May 29, 1918 in Atalissa.

She graduated from Atalissa High School and married Thomas H. Stewart in 1935. The couple ran Stewart Trucking Company in Atalissa until Tom went into farming. He passed away in 1973.

She and her husband purchased her grandparents home to be able to raise their children in the same home she was born in. The family home was sold in 2005 and she moved to Heath Manor in West Liberty. Jessie’s daughter Joan moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois in 2014 and she joined to be near five generations of family.

Jessie worked as a waitress at the Steak House in Atalissa, Wheel-Inn Skelly, Wilton Cafe and the Ribeye in Wilton.

She was an avid gardener of vegetables and flowers, cake decorator and was one of the first hospice volunteers in her hometown. She learned to drive a car and also took up swimming lessons at the Muscatine High School after the death of her husband. She rarely missed an Iowa Hawkeye Game and remains a beloved fan. Jessie was a member of the Atalissa Church of Christ. She enjoyed a good game of cards daily when she can find players.

Jessie is survived by a two daughters: Joan McQuillen of Crystal Lake, IL and  Mickie (Marvin) Hinrichs of Nichols. Also surviving are as 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, 2 step great grandchildren and 24 great great-grandchildren, sister: Verlee Williams of Muscatine and sister in law: Eloise Stewart of Iowa City. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and one brother.