January 11, 2007

OBITUARIES

Ruth Stewart

Ruth Owen Williams Stewart was born in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 1922, and died in Bellingham, Wash., on Jan. 3, surrounded by her family.

She was the second of five children of Maynard Owen Williams and Daisy Woods Williams. Her father was the first foreign correspondent of the National Geographic Society and thus she spent her early years living in France, Lebanon and Turkey, gaining fluency in French and an appreciation for many cultures. Her family returned to the Washington, D.C. area, where she graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. She attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, where she met Albert Burns Stewart, whom she married in 1941. She interrupted her education to accompany her husband while he performed alternative service during World War II, support her husband through graduate school and begin a family. Years later, she resumed her college studies and graduated from Antioch in 1985 with all her family in attendance.

Individually and in partnership, Ruth and Al had a significant impact on Antioch College. Ruth was an administrative assistant in the beginning years of the Antioch Program for Interracial Education. She later worked for the Antioch Education Abroad program and in the admissions and financial aid departments. She is well remembered for her warm, gracious hospitality to students, faculty and others, especially during Al’s time as head of the physics department and dean of faculty.

Ruth contributed richly to the Yellow Springs community, serving on the local school board for two terms and being part of a community effort to build the new Yellow Springs High School, establishing, with others, the youth tennis program and teaching swimming. She was an avid tennis player and active member of the Scotts’ “Golden Years” tennis club. She and Al lived in Yellow Springs for almost 60 years.

Ruth had an independent and adventuresome spirit and she fostered those qualities in her children. Ruth and Al made travel a priority and traveled widely in the United States with their children. In 1957, Ruth and Al sailed with their children to Europe on the Queen Mary and spent the summer exploring the continent in a VW bus. Ruth and Al spent five years in Beirut, Lebanon, during the ’70s, where Al taught in the cultural studies department at the American University of Beirut and Ruth oversaw the Great Lakes College Association’s Education Abroad program. Ruth enthusiastically and knowledgeably shared the historic sites of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, remembered from her childhood, with all of her children and grandchildren during visits.

After she retired from Antioch College, she and Al enjoyed many Elderhostels and continued to immerse themselves in the countries and cultures they explored. With the death of Al in 2001 and the end of global travels, Ruth moved to Bellingham, Wash. She demonstrated incredible dignity and acceptance of her decreasing abilities due to Parkinson’s disease. Her active intelligence, warmth and dry wit gained her new friends. During her five years there, she once again drew her family together for extended family gatherings and numerous visits. Though she had left, her connections to the Yellow Springs community remained vital and lasting.

Ruth is survived by her four children and their spouses: Margaret and Thomas Hacker of Portland, Ore.; Helen and Richard Scholtz of Bellingham, Wash.; Renee, nee Patty, (Irene Schleicher) Stewart of Seattle, Wash.; and Mark and Libby Stewart of Norfork, Ariz.; seven grandchildren: Ben and Nicholas Scholtz; Jacob, Sarah, and Alice Hacker; and Evan and Preston Stewart; three great grandchildren; her four siblings, George Williams, Owen Williams, Mary Danielson, and Charles Williams.

Ruth will be dearly missed. A gathering of friends and family to honor her life will be held in June in Yellow Springs. Those who wish to support her love of Yellow Springs and the natural world may do so by contributing to the Glen Helen Association in Yellow Springs.

Pauline Sidenstick

Pauline James Sidenstick died peacefully with her family at her side on Jan. 6, in Riverside Hospital’s Critical Care Unit in Columbus after a brief illness. She was 90.

She was born Nov. 19, 1916, in Greene County, the daughter of the late Paul T. and Jessie (Paxson) James.

She was a resident of Greene County for 75 years. Pauline was a longtime cashier at the Fairborn Kroger store; co-founder and life member of the Yellow Springs Garden Club; and a member of the Yellow Springs Methodist Church and later the Byron Church, where she taught children’s Sunday school and vacation Bible school. While a member of the Byron Church she was president of the Women’s Guild.

Pauline was a caring, kind and gentle person who always responded to others’ needs.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Everett; a sister, Mary Martha James Miteff; a brother, Dr. Harold D. James; and her “beloved” cat of 14 years, “JP.”

She is survived by two daughters, Janet Horton, and husband Bill of Snellville, Ga., and Marcia Sidenstick of Worthington, Ohio; six nieces and nephews and their families; a grandson, Tracy Horton, and his wife Monica; two great-grandchildren, Madison and Haley, all of whom she loved very much.

Pauline will be missed by many dear friends she made and kept in touch with over the years as best she could.

Pauline will be remembered for her heartfelt love, compassion, caring and giving to others with a beautiful smile and gentle heart. She shared her love with others far and near by writing, sending covered dishes, making peanut brittle, arranging flowers, and caring for pets and all of God’s creations.

A celebration of Pauline’s life will be held on Thursday, Jan. 11, 11 a.m., in the Byron Church, 3230 Trebein Road, Fairborn. The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until the time of services at the church. A private interment will be held at the Byron Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Mike Alexander

Michael J. Alexander of Yellow Springs died suddenly Sunday evening, Jan. 7, in his home, after a lengthy battle with a rare blood disease. He was 59.

He was born in Clark County, on July 30, 1947, to Joseph and Zita (Pitstick) Alexander.

He worked with his father at the Yellow Springs Lumber Company, then became a self-employed carpenter and farmer for the past 31 years.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Zita; father, Joe; and step-mother, Mae.

He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Debbie (Link) Alexander; children, Charlie, Mary and Leesa Alexander and Andrea Harmison; two brothers and their wives, Pat and Lucy Alexander of Albuquerque, N.M., and Mark and Peggy Alexander of Yellow Springs; two sisters and their husbands, Jeannie and Tom Sewell, and Rita and Rob Hoffmann of Yellow Springs; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family will receive friends on Friday, Jan. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m., in the Jackson Lytle Williams Funeral Home, Yellow Springs, where funeral services will be held on Saturday, Jan. 13, at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Glen Forest Cemetery, Yellow Springs. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Miami Township Fire-Rescue Squad or the charity of your choice in Mike’s memory.