In loving memory
Kathy Sue Stewart
She always leaned to watch for us,
Anxious if we were late,
In winter by the window,
In summer by the gate.
And though we mocked her tenderly,
Who had such foolish care,
The long way home would seem more safe
Because she waited there.
Her thoughts were all so full of us,
She never could forget!
And so I think that where she is
She must be watching yet.
Waiting till we come home to her,
Anxious if we are late,
Watching from Heaven’s window,
Leaning on Heaven’s gate.
The Watcher by Margaret Widdemer
Kathy Sue (Bowman) Stewart passed peacefully in the arms of her family August 23, 2023 near her home in Roane, Texas. She left this world holding the hands of her two children Steven and Jennifer and with her husband of over 40 years Donald.
She is preceded by her parents June and Richard Bowman and survived by her husband, two children, brother Robert Bowman, and all those that she loved and loved her.
Kathy was born in December of 1957, and raised in her home town of Kewanee, Illinois. At her grandfather’s side she developed her love of animals, raising kittens, rabbits, chickens, and training her pony. Giving everything that needed a home, a loving one.
She soon outgrew her home town and pursued her love of languages. Learning French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. It was her love of languages that led her to move to Spain through Knox College, where she lived with her host family for several years. However, Kathy knew she wanted a family and as she put it, “I could not raise a family under the Franco regime, and I knew I wanted a family”. Kathy returned to the United States and pursued her love of education and studied law in California. It was here that she met the love of her life, and her “best friend” Donald Stewart. As Kathy put it, “I went to sit by the pool and brought a game of backgammon in case someone wanted to play and Don walked over.” As Don puts it, “she walked up and said “hey big guy wanna play some backgammon?” It is a general consensus that the latter is closer to the actual event.
While attending graduate school, Kathy turned her love of life towards those that needed her most, children. Kathy both worked and volunteered in the foster care system. She taught and tutored children in group homes and those in socio-economic depressed neighborhoods choosing to focus on children with behavioral and cognitive disabilities. Here she used her love of children and languages to breach the barriers to help children shine.
She was married on Christmas eve 1982, and in September of 1983 she and Donald welcomed their first child, Jennifer. Kathy soon discovered her purpose in life was that of a mother, and in 1990 Kathy and Donald welcomed their second child, Steven. Kathy soon became a mother to all children in the neighborhood, often hosting dinosaur cookie parties and craft days in her kitchen for all children who wanted to come.
As soon as her son was able to stand, she sought to share her love of other countries with her family. In the summers Kathy, with her family in tow, took them to see the world. She showed them the abandoned temples in ancient Greece and walked with them through Roman ruins. She took them hiking through the mountain pastures of Gimmelwald Switzerland and they fell asleep listening to the avalanches off of the Eiger. She shared with them the moors and highlands of Scotland, peering off the battlements of Carcassonne France, sailing on Viking ships and riding the Olympic bobsled track in Norway. Her favorite was her beloved Spain. She always ensured each of her family took a sip from Las Canaletas Fountain before walking down the Ramblas de las flores in her beloved Barcelona.
She received National and International awards for her Photography and wrote guides for families traveling with children.
While living in Spain in her 20s, Kathy was injured by a drunk driver while walking on a sidewalk, and again when she placed herself between a child and an individual with an knife; her disability never stopped her for one second. In 2001 Kathy and her family decided to start a family business, and harnessing Kathy’s love for horses, which she shared with her children, they created a horse farm. Kathy knew exactly what type of horses she wanted. As she put it, “I first saw my first Andalusian in Spain in the 70’s. Someone was riding on the beach and had come up to a tapas bar for a drink. If there was ever a horse that looked the way a horse should look, acted the way a horse should act, and moved the way a horse should move, it was that horse, it was that breed.”
Like all things Kathy chose to do, she and Donald jumped in with full hearts and both feet. Within a few years their farm, Royal Horse Farms, was one of the largest and highest ranked in the Nation. Their horses consistently received champion after champion titles which has continued to this day. Her farm Royal Horse Farms is USEF Breeder of the Year for the past 10 years, a feat no other breeder in the history of the USEF has achieved, in any breed, ever.
Kathy continued to operate her dream farm, with the help of her family, until the day she passed. Even naming her newest foal from her hospital bed days before her passing.
She loved life. She loved children. She loved animals. She loved music. She loved her family. She loved fiercely and will forever be fiercely loved.
In all things, Kathy made it very clear as to her final wishes. She did not want a funeral or a ceremony, in her words, “why would I want a funeral? I won’t be there. My family knows I love them, my friends know I love them, I don’t want a bunch of people to leave their families to feel sad. I want people to think of me and smile.” She was laid to rest, as were her wishes, next to her mother, June, and near her grandfather, at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in her home town of Kewanee, IL.
A memorial garden will be built in her honor, on her farm in Roane, Texas, looking over the fields of the horses she so loved. Her friends and family are encouraged to send a small stone, pebble to her family so they can be a part of her garden.
If you have photos you would like to share of Kathy, please send them to rhfpre@gmail.com and they will be added to her photo gallery on this page.
Garden stones may be sent to her family at
4115 FM 1129
Corsicana, Tx 75109[
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