Nola Maxine Steward's Obituary
Nola M. Steward, 96, of Cedar Vale died May 17, 2012 at Pleasant Valley Nursing Home in Sedan, KS.
Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday May 22, 2012 at the Cedar Creek Cemetery west of Cedar Vale. Shane Land, Nola’s grandson, will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials that have been established with the Cedar Vale Church of Christ or the Maude Carpenter Children’s Home in Wichita, KS. Memorials should be sent in care of: Countryside – Zimmerman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1233, Howard, Kansas.
Nola was born on a farm southeast of Cedar Vale near Hewins, KS to Benjamin H. and Goldie (Sanborn) West on March 30, 1916. She attended Spring Branch country school and graduated from Cedar Vale High School in 1934.
She married her high school sweetheart, Carl Steward, on October 14, 1938 in Howard, Kansas. After sixteen years of married life, they were blessed with two children, Byron and Beth.
Nola went to business school in Wichita and pumped gas during the war at the Cedar Vale Co-op. For many years she was a familiar face in the office of the Cedar Vale Sale Barn. But her main focus in life was her family. She always said that life truly began at 40 for her after she became a mother.
Nola loved helping Carl work cattle, and she could be seen many times in the pickup with him checking the pastures. Riding their horses were a familiar sight as they worked the ranch and participated in many Labor Day parades.
Nola was a member of the Cedar Vale Church of Christ, Non Pareil Club, Order of Eastern Star, and the American Legion Auxiliary and served as the “Poppy†chairman for many years. Nola had a strong sense of patriotism and honoring our veterans for their sacrifice to our country. All of her life Nola always served her Lord, her family and friends. It was her goal to make life easier for those around her.
Due to failing health after Carl’s death, Nola has spent the last four and a half years in area nursing homes.
Besides her husband, Nola was preceded in death by her parents, and 2 sisters, L. Doran Wesbrook and Ida Fern Copeland.
Survivors include her two children and their spouses: Byron and Joyce Steward of Kingman, AZ; and Beth and Don Land of Cedar Vale; her three grandchildren who were her pride and joy: Shane Land and his wife Kady of Plain, WA; Jeremy Land and his wife Becky of Monett, MO; and Katie Land of Joplin, MO; her loving niece Jolene Sartin; three great nephews who were like grandchildren to her, Doug, Jerrol, and Weston Sanders, and their families; and a host of other friends and relatives.
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