Norman Stewart

FORSYTH -(Dad's photo --Navy and Marine insignia) Norman Lee Stewart, of Forsyth and formerly of Mt. Carmel, beloved husband, loving father, devoted grandfather and great-grandfather, died on March 15, 2013, in Decatur Memorial Hospital. He was born June 19, 1926 in Princeton, Indiana, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Wesley (Beatrice) Stewart. A celebration of his life will be held in Westminster Presbyterian Church at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 21. The family will meet friends in the parlor following the service. Mr. Stewart graduated from Bosse High School, Evansville, Indiana. He joined the U.S. Navy. He received his A.B. degree from the University of Evansville and then spent one year as a missionary for the Congregational Church teaching English in the Amerikan Koleji in Tarsus, Turkey. Returning to the U.S., he accepted an English teaching position in Prospect, Oregon, and left it to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps. On August 21, 1953, in Mt. Carmel, Illinois, he married Norma Ingersoll. While teaching in the junior high and high schools, he received his M.S. degree from Indiana University. They moved to Decatur in 1959 where he accepted a counseling and English teaching position at Douglas MacArthur High School, transferring in 1964 to Dwight D. Eisenhower High School to chair the English Department. He returned in 1967 to MacArthur to chair the English Department, where he remained until his retirement in 1989. He was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, serving in the choir, as a deacon and elder, and as chair of the Worship and Music Committee and the Mission Committee. In 1983 he was the first recipient of the John Heissler Award for Excellence from Illinois State University. He received the Teacher Education Award from Millikin University, the Outstanding Teacher Award from Decatur Public Schools, and was awarded an honorary life membership in the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. Professionally he served in many capacities: as International Director of Achievement Awards in Writing with the National Council of Teachers of English, English consultant to the Illinois Board of Education, on the Executive Council and President of the Illinois Association of Teachers of English, and taught English and speech to area personnel for the American Institute of Banking, He held memberships in many professional organizations and fraternities. He was active in the Decatur Area Arts Council, serving as president (1991-93), a former member of the Greater Decatur Chorale, and a member and one of the founding Directors of the Board of the Decatur Choral Society (Opus 24). He was a vocal soloist for a local synogague and area churches. He served on the Board of Directors of the Decatur Public Library (1976-80) and as its president for one year. He was a member of Golden K of Decatur and the Millikin Associates. Norman is survived by his wife and their son David and his wife Vicki of Decatur; their daughter Lisa Cope and her husband William of Taylorville, grandchildren Brian Cope of Glen Carbon, and Brent Cope and his wife Angela (parents of his great-grandson Grayson) of Springfield, half-brother The Reverend Jack O. Stewart and his wife Ellen of Pontiac, and nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were his parents, his sister B. Jeanne Stewart, and his grandson Brady Cope. Memorials may be made to the Westminster Presbyterian Church choir program or the Central Illinois Honor Flight, 712 E. Jefferson, Effingham, IL 62401. At a later date, Mr. Stewart will be interred in Highland Memorial Cemetery in his hometown of Mt. Carmel. Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes are handling the arrangements. "
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