Dorothy May Daniels was the 5th of seven children. She lived all of her childhood on the family farm, first in Rock, Cowley County, Kansas, and later at various tenant farm locations in Arkansas. She had dark brown eyes, brown hair, and skin that easily tanned. She never turned gray, and was often teased that she secretly used hair coloring, but always denied it.

She had fond memories of her childhood, often telling stories of what life was like during the depression and how her parents were able to manage with little money. She said that she never knew they were poor until she was grown and experienced life as an adult. They always had plenty to eat because of the self-sustaining farm life. Her mother was skilled in making clothes for the children as well as quilts for the bed and she embroidered and crocheted items to decorate the house. At one house Dorothy remembers helping her mother paste magazine and newspaper pictures all over the bare wooden walls to help insulate. The children thought they were decorating; it was not until many years later that she realized the real purpose was to help stop the winter wind from coming in through the cracks of the walls.

In a letter written to her grandaughter, 13 Dec 1981, she reminisces about Christmas. "Your Uncle Sam was here Christmas Day. We had fun. He and I talked about our Christmases past. The tree was always brought in the 24th. But we had the ornaments made a week before. Strings of popcorn; of course tinsel. Mama always finished it with cotton from her stored supply of scraps of cotton. She would card it until it was fine webby stuff. Then there were the taffy pulls. That we always enjoyed."

Dorothy was the only one of the seven children to graduate from high school. However, it was because of her own determination that she did so. The family did not have enough money to pay for school "extras" such as clothes, lunch, class ring, or even cap and gown. Rather than quit and blame her family, Dorothy went to work for $2.50 a week in town as a housekeeper and nanny, going to school during the day and working at her employer's home in the evenings. She came home on weekends and also gave her Mama $1 a week to help pay her own way at home, too.

Dorothy graduated in 1941. She dreamed of becoming a nurse, but couldn't afford nursing school. Shortly after graduation from high school, Dorothy went to San Antonio TX to live with her brother and his wife. She enrolled in business school, but was quickly sidetracked by a young Army man who was an acquaintence of her brother's and who was often invited over for supper. That man was Joe Stewart, and less than a year later they were married in New Braunfels.

Pearl Harbor was attacked 7 Dec 1941. They both knew their time together was limited, because of his Army enlistment. At the next opportunity, they eloped. They had only a few short weeks together at Galveston before he shipped out. She went home to Harrison, Arkansas and lived with her Mama and Papa and await the birth of her baby. She didn't see her husband again for over 3 years.

After the birth of her only child in 1943, she wanted to do her part for the War effort. She went to work in a war plant in Indiana, where she packed ammunition and learned to smoke. She felt proud of her part in helping the United States win the war and also felt proud of her independence and earning a living. But when the war was over, she quit to hurry home and await the arrival of Joe.

Dorothy was a devoted wife and mother. She always sacrificed her own wishes and desires in order to do whatever her husband or daughter wanted. She wasn't always happy doing what somebody else wanted, but usually rationalized that if they were happy, then she was happy. She was a traditional housewife, keeping the home and family intact. When Joe became ill with cancer, she nursed him with tenderness, even though he sometimes behaved rudely and had temper tantrums after bouts of chemotherapy and subsequent nausea. She put her own anxiety and hurt aside and did everything possible to make him happy and comfortable, just as she always had.

His death was just a little more than a year after diagnosis--from March 1983 to July 1984. She was devastated. It took over two years to begin to deal with his death. During that two years of mourning, she lived in San Antonio with her daughter and son-in-law and granddaughter. It was a difficult time for everyone. She finally went to grief counseling and met other women who were dealing with their losses.

Finally, in 1986 she felt she was ready to return to Burnet to their "place on the hill." At first she was lonely and sad, living there where they had dreamed of being together for many years in peaceful retirement. Gradually, she began to make new friends at Church. She volunteered to work in the thrift shop at church and felt needed again. She quit smoking, endured two major aneurysim surgeries, suffered many bouts of asthma, and privately mourned her loneliness, but seldom complained. She worked in the yard, mowing and trimming, digging and pruning. She planted trees, flowers, and shrubs; making raised beds for vegetables and flowers. She bought a stock tank and converted it to a goldfish pond.

She lived there until her sudden and unexpected death in April 1996. Her death left a hole in us that will never be filled.

Dorothy Stewart