Mrs. Velma Stewart of Yulee passed away on Monday morning, Aug. 15, 2016, at Baptist Medical Center, Jacksonville.
She was born in Pensacola on Nov. 14, 1947. She was the daughter of the late Fannie Mary Carter Stewart and Elvin Hooper Sr. She attended various schools in the Escambia County area.
She later moved to Amelia City, where she met and married the late Willie Stewart Jr. and they had 10 children and three adopted children. She was very active in their lives, especially when it came down to football season. She was known as the team mom because she went above and beyond for the entire team. Just when you thought things couldn't get any better, she made sure that her daughters learned to cook and maintain the household in which was a tool that was later put to test to see if they were paying attention. She also made sure that her children had the best of everything, even if it meant that she went without. Family meant everything to her no matter what role they played in her life. They always say an apple doesn't fall to far from the tree because she inherited a trait from her mom, which was feeding a person if they were hungry or giving them a place to stay if they were in need. Velma was one of the sweetest people that you could have ever known, and a piece of her lives on in each one of her children. There are no words to express how much she loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren other than to say that she cherished the time that she spent with them.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Fannie Mary Carter Stewart and Elvin Hooper Sr.; her husband, Willie Stewart Jr.; her granddaughter, Errica Waye; five sisters, Michelle Blackmon, Priscilla Hooper, Joann Hooper, Francis Hooper and Mary Theresa Hooper; two brothers, Frank Stewart Jr. and Spencer Stewart; grandparents, Rainey Rushing and Nathaniel Carter Sr.; and other relatives.
She leaves to cherish her memories six daughters, Nodia Stewart of Jacksonville, Willene Beverly (Michael) of Woodbine, Ga., Cynthia Oliver (Tony) of Pelham, Ga., Tammie Yearwood (Vernon) of Yulee, Felicia Stewart of Fernandina Beach and Yolanda Stewart of Columbia, S.C.; four sons, Stacy Stewart (Femarcel) of Yulee, DeMarcus Stewart of Fernandina Beach, Terrell Stewart (Christina) of Yulee and Travis Stewart (Shannon) of Jacksonville; three adopted children, Tonya Hooper and Rodell Gilles, both of Jacksonville, and Joe Strawn (Amy) of Punta Gorda; 26 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; three godchildren, Lizzie Gray of Sandhill, Shonda Holmes of Atlanta and Tara Thomas of Fernandina Beach; seven sisters, Linda Hooper Johnson (Namon) of Fernandina Beach, Corrie Hooper Boatwright, Elane Stewart Amos (Ronnie), Josephine Stewart Williams (Earl) and Lorraine Stewart Williams (Don), all of Jacksonville, and Betty Hooper and Faye Hooper, both of Lake City; five brothers, Michael Hooper, Charles Hooper (Shelia), LaTodd Stewart and Herbert Stewart (Cynthia), all of Jacksonville, and Elvin Hooper Jr. (Dorothy) of Fernandina Beach; one aunt, Mamie Carter of Pensacola; one sister-in-law, Phyllis Ray of Fernandina Beach; two brothers-in-law, Kenneth Swackard of Fernandina Beach and Quentin Stewart (Tabatha) of Jacksonville; godbrother, Andrew Collins (Debbie) of Marietta, Ga.; devoted friends, Bernice Walker of Yulee and Laura Young of Columbia; and a host of nieces and nephews and other extended relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, at the River of Praise Worship Center, with Pastor Jackie Hooper Jr. presiding
Mrs. Stewart will be laid to rest beside her husband in Bosque Bello Cemetery.
The repast will follow at 97213 Amy Drive, Yulee.
Her family will receive friends on Friday from 5-7 p.m. at Oxley-Heard.
Please share her Life Legacy and leave your memories and condolences at www.oxleyheard.com.
Oxley – Heard Funeral Directors