George Vance Stewart, Sr. passed away from natural causes 4 days after his ninety-first birthday. He was the eldest son of William C. Stewart and Natalie Vance Stewart. He was born and raised in Memphis and spent his life here. He was educated at Little Flower Parochial School, Christian Brothers High School and Miller Hawkins Business College.
He met Jean Fowler at Miller Hawkins Business College in 1947. They were married in 1949 and were together 53 years until her death in 2003.
Vance, at 18, began working for his parents at Stewarts, one of the earliest manufacturers of mayonnaise, potato chips, and other snack foods in the Mid-South. When the company was sold in 1954 to Continental Baking, he opened Vann’s Baking Corporation making fig bars and wound up specializing in pecan fudge brownies. Lays and Guys were among his accounts. Vann’s produced over 1 million brownies every 8 days.
In 1975, Vance successfully lobbied the Memphis City Council to build the Pyramid. He loved Memphis and was instrumental in helping the City thrive. He argued Memphis should have the Pyramid in commemoration of its namesake city in Egypt. He envisioned the pyramid as a 30-story gold mirror-glassed hotel sitting high on the river bluff with a techno-world exhibit in the basement. It was meant to be inspiring for Memphians and promote the city internationally. It became home for concerts, exhibits, the University of Memphis Tigers, the Memphis Grizzlies NBA Team, and is now the Bass Pro Shop and Hotel.
Vance sold Vann’s to Flowers Industries in 1983 and subsequently opened Eden Art Gallery at 4646 Poplar. He later changed the name to Vance Gallery. He and Jean ran it for 10 years.
He was a devout Catholic. During his working years, Vance daily stopped for prayer at St. Peter's or Immaculate Conception Cathedral. He also served as a sacristan at Holy Rosary. In his later years he became a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH).
Vance’s life was always focused on his family. Jean had been adopted and Vance spent years of his retirement helping her successfully find her birth family. He wrote and published three books: “Three Against One, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin vs. Adolph Hilter”, “Two Points of View, a Collection of Short Stories” and “An Incident at Ramsgate, Mystery Stories.” The first book was a history of World War II dedicated to his older brother Billy, a bombardier in a B-17, who was killed in action over Berlin in September, 1944.
Vance was predeceased by his brothers William C. "Billy" Stewart, Jr. and Thomas Edward Stewart and his sister, Jean Stewart George and his sons, William C. Stewart, III, Paul “Buddy” Randolph Stewart, and Daniel “Danny” Thompson Stewart, as well as his wife and parents. He is survived by his children, Claire Stewart Nottingham and George Vance Stewart, Jr., and granddaughters, Lynn Marie Nottingham, Natalie Elizabeth Stewart, and Mindy Abernathy, and grandsons Christopher Michael Stewart and Jason Matthew Stewart, as well as his brother and sister-in-law, John R. “Jack” Stewart, and Jackie Ellis Stewart, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A burial service was held at Calvary Cemetery on Monday, July 20th, with family in attendance.
The family requests that since, due to the pandemic, there was no visitation, anyone considering making a donation in their father's honor please send it to:
Madonna Learning Center
7007 Poplar Ave.
Germantown, TN 38138.
Information about the date of a Virtual Visitation will be sent out once finalized.
