June 9, 1938 — February 4, 2021
Attorney from Guyana was tiny dynamo with tough mind, tender heart
Stella Stewart was born in Georgetown, Guyana on June 9, 1938 to Robert Allen and Gwendolyn Williams. A lover of language and books, she was a bright student and earned a highly regarded Cambridge Certificate at the age of 16.
After working for a brief time as a secretary, she emigrated to the United States in 1960 and soon enrolled at Howard University. She soon re-united with her childhood sweetheart Rudolph Stewart. They married in the mid-60s. When Rudolph was accepted at Amherst College, Stella put her own academic plans on hold as the family, which now included their newborn son, Roger, moved to Massachusetts.
By the time the couple moved to Ohio in 1968, where Rudolph had taken a job with Standard Oil [later BP], younger son Richard had come along. The two boys would be joined by baby sister Penelope in Cleveland the following year.
After brief assignments in Akron and Youngstown, Stella was delighted when Rudolph snagged a permanent position in Cleveland. She appreciated the opportunities afforded by a big city, and the family settled in Cleveland Heights where all three of her children attended public school, grades K-12.
When the marriage ended after roughly ten years, Stella was faced with a familiar choice for a young immigrant woman: how to support three young children as a single parent. She knew she had to go back to school. She enrolled at Case Western Reserve University, earning her undergraduate degree in communications in 1973 and continued on to law school, graduating from Case in 1979 and passing the bar the following year.
To support her family, Stella worked as a secretary and did medical transcription work as she worked her way through school and became an attorney.
She began her legal career as an assistant county prosecutor and moved on to become a referee in domestic relations division of the county court before establishing a private practice.
Stewart’s first private law office was a desk in the State Farm insurance office of Silas Buchanan Sr. on Lee Rd. in Shaker Heights. Her sympathies made her services available to anybody poor and black who had a problem.
Those sympathies were clear: She once oversaw a case where a father who was preparing to embark on a carefree vacation notwithstanding the considerable delinquency on his child support obligations. The compact five foot tall referee advised the defendant that he had “two hours to return to court with the past due arrearages or she would lock his _ _ _ up!” [He complied.]
As the years passed, Stella’s sympathies expanded to embrace men who were often laboring to keep up their obligations under difficult circumstances. And her own children never knew her to speak disparagingly of their father.
Stella’s generous spirit was grounded in a strong Christian faith. She was a longtime member of the Unity Church at Fairmount and Taylor Rds. in Cleveland Heights.
In 1985 Stella married Joseph Rice, an insurance man. She was at his bedside when he died 25 years later.
Stella’s quick wit was usually accompanied by her ready and unabashed laugh.
She spoke, as she liked to say, the Queen’s English, and did so impeccably. She insisted that her children do so as well, though none inherited her unforgettable lilting accent.
Despite her gregarious manner, Stella was a very private person. She never told anyone her age, so even her friends were surprised to learn she had reached 82.
In her spare time Stella indulged her affinity for romance novels and music. She was appreciative of the classical canon even as her Guyanese roots swayed in the direction of reggae and calypso. She was also an accomplished cook.
Stella Stewart, always active, inquisitive, and gregarious, shown here with son Richard and the late US Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Cleveland.
Stella never really retired. When she moved back to Washington in 1999 to be near Penelope, she taught law at a community college. She continued to give legal, and spiritual counsel to anyone in need until the end of her life.
Stella returned to Cleveland in December 2019. Never one to let moss grow under her feet, she was debating whether to stay or return once again to DC when she died at home on Feb. 4.
Stewart was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Florence Dowden, and three brothers, Roy Williams, Robert Williams, and Winslow Allen.
She leaves to mourn three children, Roger Stewart [Marguerite] of Cleveland Hts., Richard [Virginia] of Shaker Hts., and Penelope Stewart [Timothy] of Washington DC; a stepson; her granddaughter, Makende Stewart of Cleveland Hts.; two sisters, Nesta Williams Corbin of Guyana and Mildred Bruce; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 4pm on June 12, 2021 at Case Western Reserve’s Amasa Stone Chapel, 10940 Euclid Ave. [44106]. Details are available through Lucas Funeral Home [440.735.3030].
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