Belle Embry Stewart, 97, of Mount Vernon, Illinois, passed away at 11:20 pm December 21, 2020 at SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Mount Vernon. Mrs. Stewart was a member of First United Methodist Church; teaching Sunday school for many years, serving on several committees, and active in the Priscilla Circle and United Methodist Women. She was a member of the Round Table Study Club, Garden Club, and Sewing Club. Belle graduated from Morganfield High School and Western Kentucky University. She taught home economics and general science at Grayville High School and at Mount Vernon Township High School. She retired after getting married and focused her life on family. She enjoyed many hobbies over the years. She was an excellent seamstress and loved knitting, needlepoint, and counted cross-stitch. She enjoyed traveling, visiting all fifty states and several countries. She was an avid reader and sports fan, especially Kentucky basketball. Belle took great pleasure growing flowers and plants and landscaping in her yard. She loved nature and all living things, but her greatest joy was her family. She was a loving daughter, sister, mother, and grandmother and will be dearly missed.
A Private Family Service will be held. Memorials may be made in Belle’s honor to First United Methodist Church or Angels on Assignment. Please remember to observe social distancing at this time. We are limited to 10 people in our building at a time. Following the CDC and NFDA regulations, we encourage everyone to wear a mask. They will be made available, upon request. Call Hughey Funeral Home at 618-242-3348 or visit hugheyfh.com for further information.
Belle is survived by her sons, James Russell “Rusty” Stewart, Jr. of Walnut Creek, California and Robert Graham Stewart and wife, Dee Ann of Mount Vernon, Illinois; daughter, Carol Lindsey Stewart of Mount Vernon, Illinois; grandson, Philip Stewart Blackwood of Mount Vernon, Illinois, Cameron James Stewart of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Paisley Jane Stewart of Athens, Georgia; great-grandson, Lucas David Blackwood; and several nieces and nephews.
She was born June 5, 1923 in Butler County, Kentucky to the late William Owen and Gertrude (Lindsey) Embry. Belle married James Russell Stewart on August 5, 1950 in Henderson, Kentucky. They were blessed with sixty-three years of marriage before he preceded her in death on October 14, 2013. In addition to her parents and husband, Belle was preceded in death by her brothers, Harold, Lawrence, William, and Ben Embry and sister, Hazel Anderson.
