Jessie Stewart to note 100th birthday

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Jessie Stewart will celebrate her birthday with a “100 Years Loved” celebration and open house on Monday, May 28 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the home of her daughter Joan in Crystal Lake.

Jessie Pearl (Arnold) Stewart was born to Otis and Erma (Van Horn) Arnold in the home of her grandparents, Jesse and Eugenia Van Horn, on May 29, 1918 in Atalissa.

She graduated from Atalissa High School and married Thomas H. Stewart in 1935. The couple ran Stewart Trucking Company in Atalissa until Tom went into farming. He passed away in 1973.

She and her husband purchased her grandparents home to be able to raise their children in the same home she was born in. The family home was sold in 2005 and she moved to Heath Manor in West Liberty. Jessie’s daughter Joan moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois in 2014 and she joined to be near five generations of family.

Jessie worked as a waitress at the Steak House in Atalissa, Wheel-Inn Skelly, Wilton Cafe and the Ribeye in Wilton.

She was an avid gardener of vegetables and flowers, cake decorator and was one of the first hospice volunteers in her hometown. She learned to drive a car and also took up swimming lessons at the Muscatine High School after the death of her husband. She rarely misses an Iowa Hawkeye Game and remains a beloved fan. Jessie is a member of the Atalissa Church of Christ. She enjoys a good game of cards daily when she can find players.

Jessie has two daughters, Joan McQuillen of Crystal Lake and Mickie Hinrichs of Nichols. She also has 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 23 great great-grandchildren, with one on the way.

Cards, letters and memories may be sent to Jessie Stewart at 4709 Wild Cherry Rd., Crystal Lake, IL 60012.

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