Lee Stewart learned to can fruits and vegetables in her mom’s kitchen in eastern Colorado and went on to teach hundreds of women to do the same.
Coincidentally, Stewart and her mother, Ruth Virginia Seaman, 98, died within four days of each other. Stewart was 79. A joint service was held Sept. 22 at First Christian Church of Loveland.
Stewart died unexpectedly Sept. 17 while in Keystone, where she was about to hand over the reins as president of the Colorado Association of Hospital Auxilians and Volunteers.
She had various health problems but had survived them, not knowing that she had atherosclerosis, a circulation problem that led to a fatal heart attack, said her daughter, Barbara Shumate of Houston.
Until a few years ago Stewart was the full-time caretaker for her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Seaman died Sept. 20.
Stewart was a master gardener with the Larimer County Extension Office and volunteered hundreds of hours in the Loveland youth gardener program for at-risk and developmentally disabled youth.
She was also a master food safety adviser, checking people’s canning methods and utensils for safety.
“Lee was a mentor to so many people because she was approachable,” said Alison Stoven O’Connor, a horticulture extension agent.
“She volunteered for us 27 years, and I can’t fathom how many thousands of hours,” said Edie McSherry of Fort Collins, a county extension agent.
Stewart constantly read books about what grows best in Colorado, what insects to expect and how to get rid of them. She wrote about what she learned for newspapers and county-extension publications.
At McKee Medical Center, Stewart volunteered thousands of hours, said Shumate, whether running the “sunshine cart” to patients, managing the gift shop or helping with a program that focused on teens with drug and alcohol problems.
Emma Lee Seaman was born July 7, 1931, in Vona and graduated from high school in Greeley.
“She was a Depression child,” said her daughter. “They grew their own vegetables and fruits and canned everything.”
She married James Donald Stewart on Oct. 30, 1949. He died in 1999.
In addition to her daughter, Stewart is survived by two sons, Dennis Stewart of Mabank, Texas, and Keith Stewart of Cleburne, Texas; two sisters, Irene Noyes of Evans and Iris Douglas of Denver; two brothers, Dwayne Seaman of Greeley and Bob Seaman of Castle Rock; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
