Kaija-Leena Stewart passed away on April 27, 2010 at 72 years of age. Leena was born in Finland on March 29, 1938 to Niilo and Sirkka Marttinen and emigrated to Canada with her first husband Ernest Belcher and their son Seppo in 1962. When Ernest died tragically a few months later, she stayed and finished her training at Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford. She married John Stewart in 1963 and was predeceased by him in 1978. Leena worked at SHNB for more than 30 years before retiring in 1995, and loved gardening, reading, travelling, and music.
She is survived by her children Seppo Belcher and his wife Lynn, and Wendy Stewart and her husband Brian Wall; grandchildren Richard, Samantha, and Laura Belcher, and Nadja Wall; sister and brother in law Sisko and Ossi Launonen; brothers- and sisters-in-law Marnie and Charlie McNab, Peter Stewart, and Rose and John Johnson; many nieces and nephews; special friends Maija and Keijo Immonen, Evelyn and Russ Bowers, Janice Wychopen, and Jake and Marilyn Wall also mourn her passing.
A memorial service was held on Thursday May 6, 2010 from the chapel of Wilson & Zehner Funeral Home. Leena’s loved ones are invited to donate in her memory to the Canadian Cancer Society or to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
