April 8, 1931 – October 3, 2015
Betty Lou Brown Stewart, age 84, died at home, peacefully in her sleep from causes related to Alzheimer’s disease on Saturday, October 3, 2015. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 7, 2015, at Saint James Lutheran Church, 104 Union Street, South, Concord, NC. The Rev. Tony Bradshaw will officiate. A private interment will be held prior to the service at Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall after the service.
She was the daughter of the late Eugene Fisher Brown, Sr., and the late Mary Emma Horton Brown. She was a 1949 graduate of Concord High School, and a graduate of Coker University, Hartsville, SC. Prior to her marriage to Gabe Smith Stewart in 1963, she worked for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services. Mrs. Stewart was a life-long member of St. James Lutheran Church and was active in all phases of church life, including serving on the Church Council. She was active in many endeavors and organizations including the Ruth Coltrane Cannon Garden Club, the Floral Club, the Ethel R. Williams Book Club, The Original Club of Bridge, and The National Society of the Colonial Dames in America. Betty Lou shared her entire life and home with numerous canine companions, many of which were rescued strays. It was not uncommon to see her with one or more of her dogs as she went about her daily activities. She was comforted in her final years with the devoted companionship and love of “Sally Brown,” and her grand dog, “Lily Potter”.
In addition to her parents, Betty Lou was preceded in death by her husband, Gabe Smith Stewart; her brother, Luther Monroe (“Roe”) Brown, and her sister-in-law, Phyllis Tucker Brown.
Betty Lou is survived by her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Stewart; brother, Eugene F. (“G.G.”) Brown, Jr.; and sister-in-law, Jane Biggers Brown. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews, Marsha Brown Gardin and her husband, Al, of Fort Valley, GA; E.F. (“Gene”) Brown, III, and his wife, Denise; Luther M. Brown; Phyllis Anne Brown of Fletcher, NC; John Christian Brown; and Michael Boyd Brown and his wife, Frances Hillman Brown. Also surviving are her beloved grandnieces and grandnephew Sara Jessica Gardin of Fort Valley, GA; Jennifer Ellen Gardin of Charleston, SC; Sara Hillman Brown; and Michael Stewart Brown of Clemson, SC. The family is appreciative of the compassionate and loving care provided to Betty Lou by Dr. Geoffrey Rackoff; Hospice Nurse, Sharon Holt; and her caregivers Della Faggart-Pearson, Sue Rigot, Susie Kidd, Fredericka Foster, Tammy Pruitt, and Kennedy Amos.
Those who wish may make memorial contributions to those organizations special to Betty Lou: St. James Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 684, Concord, NC 28026-0684; Hospice & Palliative Care of Cabarrus County, Inc., 5003 Hospice Lane, Kannapolis, NC 28081, which cared for Betty Lou in her final months; or CVAN (Cabarrus Victims Assistance Network), P.O. Box 1749, Concord, NC 28026-1749. Online condolences may be left at www.wilkinsonfuneralhome.com . Wilkinson Funeral Home is handling arrangements for the Stewart family.