Estella Bertha (Cook) Stewart |
| Posted 2019-01-22 by Judy Wight Branson |
| Prescott Evening Courier, Prescott, Arizona Thursday, August 1, 1935, page 1.3 & 8.2 Mrs. Stewart Called Beyond Mr. J. W. Stewart, truly one of the west's noble women, who was immortalized in Harold Bell Wright's book, 'When a Man's a Man,' as the wife of 'the Dean,' died this morning in the 130 Grove avenue family residence of a lingering illness extending over a period of two years. She was born Bertha Estelle Cook in Grass Valley, Calif., and was brought to Arizona by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Cook, when she was a child of five and the oldest daughter of a family of eight. Funeral services will be conducted in the chapel of the Lester Ruffner Funeral Home Saturday morning at 10:30 o'clock by the Rev. Charles Franklin Parker of the First Congregational church. Burial will be in Mountain View cemetery in the family plot, beside the remains of her husband. Mr. Cook, after engaging in the cattle ranching business for a number of years in Williamson Valley, passed away, but Mrs. Stewart's mother is still living at the ripe old age of 85. She is with her youngest daughter, Mrs. Mary W. Young, in Glendale, Calif., but owing to her great age it will be impossible for her to come to Prescott with other members of the family in this time of bereavement. Stella Cook, as she was called, was married on the Cook ranch to J. W. Stewart when she was 17 years old. Immediately thereafter he took his bride to his ranch, which adjoined the Cook lands. There they lived 46 years - nearly half a century. To them were born two sons, Clarence and Frank. Frand died at the age of 11 and J. W. Stewart died February 21, 1930, in Torrence Cali., after a long illness. The elder Mr. Stewart was greatly loved and known to literally hundreds of cowmen as the 'Captain,' while every cowboy for miles around call Mrs. Stewart 'Mother Stewart.' Harold Bell Wright, like all who met and knew Mrs. Stewart, was impressed with her quiet dignity and sterling character to such an extent that he used her as one of the principal characters in his famous book. Indeed, the author did not exaggerate in any way in describing her qualities as the wife of the Dean. Recently, when the picture adapted from the book was shown at the Studio theater, Manager Albert Stetson had her present as an honored guest. Called upon for a few remarks from the stage, she said: 'I'm not much of a speechmaker, but if you's ask me to throw together some biscuits and broil some steaks out on the open range I can certainly do that.' After Mr. Stewart's death, Mrs. Stewart and Clarence carried on at the Cross-Triangle ranch as a guest ranch until it was sold two years or more ago. The Stewarts, by their genuine western hospitality, have made friends from coast to coast. An attestation of this fact in that flowers from far and near were sent in an almost unending stream to the Grove avenue residence to cheer Mother Stewart in her last days. Besides those already mentioned, she is survived by a sister, Mr. J. A. Miller of Prescott; two brothers, James Cook of Prescott and Herbert Cook of Kingman; and Clarence's children, Frances, Ellnore, and Billy, whom Mrs. Stewart reared and who regarded her as much their mother as their real mother. To them she was 'Grammy' and a pal. It is a significant fact that she passed away on Billy's fourteenth birthday. Mrs. Stewart belonged to the Lady Elks of Prescott and to the First Congregational church. The body is at the Lester Ruffner Funeral Home. -------------------------------------------- Prescott Evening Courier, Prescott, Arizona Friday, August 2, 1935, page 3.6 Funeral Notice - The funeral services for Mrs. J. W. Stewart will be held at the Lester Ruffner Funeral Home, 303 South Cortez street, Saturday morning at 10:30 o'clock. Friends and acquaintances are invited. Interment at Mt. View. See Also: Arizona Gravestone Photo Project |
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