Barbara Whitfield Stewart

Barbara Whitfield Stewart died on January 10, 2017, following a severe brain hemorrhage. She was born in January 1944 and while living in Greenville, NC, graduated from East Carolina School of Nursing. Following graduation, she married Ron Stewart. They then moved to Williamsburg, VA, where she began work with James City County Social Services Department. Following this, she became Director of Williamsburg Social Services. Following her husband’s transfer to Enka, NC, she became Director of Hospice House in Hendersonville, NC. She and Ron retired back to Williamsburg in 2001.

Her entire working career was dedicated to helping others, a quality often observed by her family and friends as the years passed. It requires the expressive power of Shakespeare to adequately describe her essence: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”

This quote from Jane Austen completely sums up Barbara’s feeling about her friends: “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”

Her survivors include her husband, Ron; sons, Terrance and Christopher; daughters-in-law, Yvonne and Katherine; grandchildren, David, Spencer, Madeline and Thomas; and her mother, Myrtle.

There will be a gathering of family members and friends at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Rd., Williamsburg, VA, on Sunday, January 15 starting at 3:30 PM.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Hospice House and Support Care of Williamsburg, 4445 Powhatan Parkway, Williamsburg, VA 23188.

Online condolences may be offered at www.nelsencares.com.