Dixie Stuart

February 9, 1934 - December 17, 2012

Dixie was born February 9, 1934, near Hebron, Texas. Her early years were spent on a sharecropper farm with her parents, Cleve and Ezell. She had many pets including a red mare named Pet. At age nine, she and her parents left the farm for Denton, Texas. She graduated from North Texas High School as Salutatorian in 1950. She then attended North Texas State College in Denton, concurrently with her mother, and earned her BA in Journalism in 1954. She then moved to Austin to work at The University of Texas. She worked there off and on for nearly 40 years as an administrative assistant in the Physics, Linguistics, and Biomedical Engineering departments.

Her passions were her husband, children, grandchildren, and Siamese cats. She was an avid horticulturist and could turn tiny plants into winter monsters. She became a lover and grower of orchids and officially became an orchid judge for the American Orchid Society in 1985. She and her friend Sallie made many trips to the regional center in San Antonio over the course of thirty plus years. Her favorite orchid trip was the World Orchid Conference in New Zealand which she used as a working vacation with Joe. She endured many trials and tribulations, especially the last year of her life, but she never complained and fought her burdens to the end.

She is sorely missed by her family. She is preceded in death by her husband, Joe Don Stuart, and her parents, Cleve and Ezell Curtis. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Tony and Colette Stuart, of Amarillo, Texas; her daughter and son-in-law, Sherry and Bob Cushing, of Sarasota, Florida; the Stuart grandchildren, Captain Thomas R. and his wife Jillian, Cleve, Sarah, Breanna, Hannah, and Anthony; and the Cushing grandchildren, Riley and Katherine.

Services will be held at Weed-Corley-Fish North Lamar on Friday, December 21, 2012, with visitation at 10 a.m. and services at 11 a.m. A procession and burial will follow at Austin Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice.