Barbara Ellen Stewart

On Sunday, January 29, 2023, Barbara Ellen Stewart passed peacefully in her sleep at age 96. She was born on September 1, 1926, to parents Claude and Minnie Ulmer of Chesterfield, IN.

She graduated from Daleville High School in April 1944 and, at age 17, took a train by herself (with her mother’s permission) to Buckley Airfield outside Denver, Colorado to marry Robert W. Stewart. He was in the Army Air Corps and left a few weeks later for Europe and WWII. They were married for 64 years until he passed in 2008.

Barbara was known for her warmth, grace, and sense of style, but also for her great sense of humor, which was sometimes irreverent and wickedly funny. She was a decades-long member of the Daleville Christian Church and was active in their Christian Women’s Fellowship. As a young mother she was part of an organization that helped migrant workers and their families who worked in a plant in Daleville. She was on the launch committee for the Daleville Library and worked as a volunteer there. She was active for many years with the Delaware County Democratic Women’s Organization.

Barbara kept up with the news and was politically astute. She was an avid reader and wonderful baker of amazingly delicious pies with a prize-winning crust. She was known for her baking and cooking but also her generosity in sharing that food with others. She made her home welcome to everyone. Her ease as a hostess not only made visitors feel comfortable, but also welcomed as friends. In later years what gave her the most enjoyment were her grandchildren Erin, Sean and Paul, great-granddaughters Aislinn and Emerson and most recently, her great-grandson Ford.

Barbara is survived by her son Bob (Sharon) Stewart of Wilmington, NC, and her daughter Carol (David) Gulyas of Forest Park, IL; her grandchildren Erin (Luke) Hughes of Laurel, MD, Sean (Grace) Stewart of Fletcher, NC, and Paul (Kalin) Gulyas of Chicago, IL; and her great-grandchildren Aislinn and Emerson Hughes and Ford and Pierce Gulyas.

A memorial service and celebration of life will be held on March 11 at 2pm at the Daleville Christian Church, 14220 W. Daleville Rd, Daleville, Indiana. Barbara asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association in memory of Robert W. Stewart.