SALEM, OREGON – Rebecca (Becky) Jayne Stewart, 81, passed away in Salem, Ore. on Friday, May 28, 2010. Becky was a dedicated wife, mother, sister and grandmother. She was also a beloved aunt to her many nieces and nephews.
She was born July 18, 1928 in Oxford to Floyd and Addie Wackford. She graduated from Oxford Academy & Central School in 1946 and SUNY Cobleskill in 1949.
After her graduation from Cobleskill, she worked at Susquehanna Valley Home in Binghamton as a preschool teacher. Becky married Walter Stewart on June 2, 1951. Her children Kenny, Kathy and Patricia were born in New York. In 1957, Becky and her family moved to Sacramento, Calif., where Becky worked as a preschool teacher and as a hospital housekeeper. In 2005, Becky moved to Lincoln City, Ore. to live with her daughter Patricia and her husband Joe.
Becky loved camping, reading, playing cards, Wii bowling and the Sacramento Kings Basketball team. She was a devout Christian and attended church faithfully and participated in a Wednesday morning Bible study class.
Although Becky lived in the West for most of her adult life, she maintained close ties with her family in New York. She spent many summers with her sister Lois Deuel and Lois’s husband, Walter, in their home in Corning, and visited her relatives and friends in Oxford as well. Becky especially enjoyed accompanying Lois, Walt and Lois’s family on their vacations at Keuka Lake.
Becky is preceded in death by her parents and her brothers Kenneth and Warren.
She is survived by her sister Lois Deuel; her brother, Reginald Wackford; her children, Ken Stewart, Kathy Hanley, and Patricia Felluca; twelve grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
A Memorial Service was held on Sunday, June 13 at the Evangelical Church in Lincoln City, Ore. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established at the Evangelical Church in Lincoln City, Ore. to be used for Becky’s grandchildren.
A Memorial Srvice for Becky will also be held in New York; the date for this service is yet to be determined.