Curtis James Stewart

At age 91, on September 30, 2025, an old Avondale police chief physically died. Ah, but the life the old chief lived is a story worth telling. On June 6, 1934, Fannie Mae and Curtis Stewart welcomed their first born into a difficult world. Chances are you knew him as James or Jim or C.J. or Sarge or Lieutenant or Commander or Chief. Or maybe you knew him as that serious looking guy you really hoped wasn’t staring directly at you. I called him Dad. When he was born, his parents possessed few material things. His father mined coal in Appalachia. By both word and deed, Dad learned life was tough. In his first forty years, Dad out-toughed most everyone. As a boy, he learned hard honest honorable work. When his father got black lung from mining coal, the Stewart family headed west and became farm laborers. Dad and his family harvested lots of crops by hand, including cotton, oranges, grapes, melons and garlic. He lived in labor camps. He discovered a committed family could overcome dire circumstances. He endured desperate times. And Dad came to fundamentally believe that the triune traits of honesty, integrity and loyalty were of higher worth than “the all-mighty dollar.” He left high school early and joined the Marines. He was fiercely patriotic. (Dad insisted we drop everything and stand for the national anthem whenever it came on TV.) He went to Korea and fought in a war. After far too many months on the front lines, Dad left Korea without any visible scars. His high school sweetheart Joy made sure she saw him first when he returned to Avondale. They married on January 30, 1955. He received an honorable discharge, worked for Western Electric a bit, and later joined the Avondale Police Department. Dad then hired on with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO)—a perfect fit. He did lots of stuff there: drove patrol, kept the peace, found missing people, investigated homicides, even delivered a baby. He went to college at night for seven years to get a bachelor’s degree. He became an assistant bureau chief and later the west side commander for all field operations. In 1981, he retired from the MCSO and went to graduate school. He earned a master’s degree with highest honors. Retirement bored him, so he went back to work. First, Dad tried helping the Arizona DMV get its act together. He declared that mission a “lost cause.” Then Dad spent time investigating crime in Arizona’s prisons. “Very few cooperating witnesses,” he wryly noted. His favorite job was his last. He served as Avondale’s Police Chief from 1989-1996. Dad embraced Avondale. It was where he ran with Sam Garcia as a kid and earned money from Mr. Garcia sweeping up at Garcia’s Market. It’s also where Dad met Mom in junior high school. He lived many places; yet Avondale became home. Dad has four children: Colleen (Ray), Cynthia (Ron), Michael (Sheila) and Allen (Chris). He loved us all. “More than you’ll ever know,” Dad always said. And he meant it, too. But Dad’s father boiled like a tea kettle and that violent temper scalded Dad plenty. Dad had his own roiling pot. He struggled against anger, but anger often won. And when it did, his family and others suffered for it. I mentioned earlier Dad out-toughed most everyone his first forty years. Frankly, Dad’s anger clouds the memories of those days. But Dad’s last half century was truly remarkable, for he experienced the miraculous. In the summer of ’74, Dad’s oldest daughter and oldest son both became hospital patients, 24 hours apart, each from separate accidents. His daughter had suffered a serious head injury. His son became pinned under a tractor for several hours, severely crushing one leg’s blood vessels. Doctors pronounced both cases strange and very grim. Dad’s toughness couldn’t bend these circumstances to his will. The historic Stewart Clan motto says, “Courage grows strong at a wound.” With his two children seriously wounded, Dad courageously humbled himself. He begged God to spare his children’s lives and heal them. Dad promised that, in return, he would completely give his life to God. The next day, doctors saw drastic improvement in both children’s condition. A doctor asked Dad if he believed in God. Dad answered, “Yes.” The doctor then replied, “Well, you should thank him because we can’t explain what we’ve seen.” Within a week, those grimly injured children left the hospital without major complications. Dad had received an extraordinary gift that millions have sincerely sought yet come up empty due to no fault of their own. And Dad made good on his promise. He became a different man. God began tenderizing the tough guy. In due time, Dad asked for forgiveness from each of his children and his wife, too. And he received what he sought. Ultimately, Dad’s family changed forever. We all experienced true redemption. Dad’s faith walk was far from perfect. But in 1974, Dad’s anger began riding in the backseat and Dad’s faith started riding shotgun. Sometimes anger still climbed up front, but it now had to wrestle with Dad’s promise and Dad’s faith. The tough guy became a Sunday School teacher and a church deacon. With no fanfare, Dad helped lift lots of people up. He routinely did good deeds in secret. Once when I was a little boy, a drunk deputy told me, “Your Dad is a bad hombre...he scares the sh*t out of me.” Well, in time that bad hombre became my hero. Dad was no phony. Through faith, he became a kinder man, and not just to his family. Dad deeply cared for all sorts of people—including scores of folks he didn’t agree with on many things. An enduring characteristic of Dad was that he loved Mom with everything he had for over 70 years. Mom bountifully loved him in return. His younger brothers Bob and Charlie and Gerry predeceased Dad. His brothers Jack and Ronnie and his sister Judy survive him. He leaves behind his wife, his four grateful kids (with their spouses), his eleven grandchildren and his twelve great grandchildren. In the Hebrew scriptures Micah 6:8 asks the question, “And what does God require of us?” The prophet Micah then answers: “To act justly, to love faithfulness and to walk humbly with your God.” Way to go, Dad. You kept the faith and you kept your promise. See you in God’s kingdom.

If you want to celebrate Dad’s life with us, the services will occur at Avondale Baptist Church, 1001 N. Central Avenue, Avondale 85323 on Saturday, October 11, 2025. The viewing will commence at 9:00 a.m. and the funeral will begin at 10:00 a.m. A lunch reception on the church premises will follow the funeral. Travel to the grave site will leave the church no later than 1 p.m. The graveside service will begin at 2 p.m. at Greenwood Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery, 2300 West Van Buren, Phoenix 85009. Feel free to post a special memory involving Dad at www.lastingmemories.com/curtis-james-stewart. Flowers may be sent to Avondale Baptist Church at the church’s address above. If you are inclined to donate to charity in lieu of flowers, we encourage donations to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.