Carol Jean Stewart

Harrington, Delaware – On Sunday May 4, Carol Jean (Kunerth) Stewart, 78, passed away peacefully in her home and went to be with her Lord and Savior.

Born in Worthington, Minnesota on May 18, 1946 to Ruth (Kraft) Kunerth and Frank Albyn “Al” Kunerth, Carol was the second oldest of six sisters and one brother. She was known for caring for her younger siblings, taking them school shopping and occasionally enabling their antics. Carol also had three older half-brothers: Daryl (Bud), Marvin, and Joseph. She went to Catholic school in her early years and graduated from Worthington Junior and Senior High in 1964.

Some of her earliest jobs in Worthington included deboning chicken at Campbell Soup and working in the kitchen at Cashel Nursing Home. Through Carol’s half-brother, Bud, she met Virgil Stewart, who was working at KWOA Radio Station in Worthington, Minnesota.The two were married in Chancellor, South Dakota in December 1970; their daughter Wendy was born one year later. Carol and Virgil remained devoted and faithful to each other for 49 years until Virgil’s death in 2020.

Throughout her life, Carol impacted countless people by serving those in need. She and Virgil ran a group home for men at Hope Haven in Rock Valley, Iowa, before moving to California, where they ran a group home for teens and adolescents with mental and emotional difficulties for the San Fernando Valley Child Guidance Clinic. Later, she worked as a certified nursing assistant at Brookcrest Nursing Home in Grandville, Michigan, and ran the Family Services Department of Mel Trotter Ministries in Grand Rapids, which serves people facing homelessness. To be closer to Wendy’s family, in 1995 she and Virgil moved to Delaware, where Carol worked night shifts for more than a decade at the Governor Bacon Health Center until she retired.

Carol loved the holidays. She was known for storing countless boxes of color-coordinated Christmas decorations, setting up her Christmas village and nutcracker collection each year, and tuning in to the Hallmark Channel months before December. She enjoyed creating silk flower arrangements, watching classic musicals and Elvis Presley films, and listening to Barbara Streisand. Carol was generous, she showed love through cooking, baking, and hosting all of Wendy’s high school friends, all of whom called her Mom. One Christmas she prepared both a turkey and a ham for just seven people! Her sister remembers the “fantabulous” desserts that she would present in pretty glassware dishes; Carol loved to set a beautiful and welcoming table. She kept a small Bible in her car to share the gospel of Christ with anyone she met. Her unwavering Christian faith was a constant throughout her life.

She is preceded in death by her loving husband Virgil Stewart, sister Mary Lou Kunerth, and three half-brothers. Carol is survived by her daughter Wendy, son-in-law Ken, grandchildren Kathryn (and Tolu), Joey, and Jared, sisters Janet, Kathy, Sharon, Anna, and brother Gary.

A memorial service with light refreshments will take place from 10:00am-11:30 am at Cedar Hill Christian Reformed Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey on Saturday, May 17. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts to Wycliffe Bible Translators of Orlando, Florida.