Kathleen I. Mcmahon Stewart

Kathleen Ida (Marks) (McMahon) Stewart died peacefully at her home in Canton, Michigan on December 3, 2022. She had suffered for the past year and a half with ovarian cancer. Kathy was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 20, 1933, to Harvey and Lois Marks, the youngest of four children. She attended school in Shields, Michigan and graduated from Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw. She attended the Salvation Army church in Saginaw where she met her husband to be, the eldest son of the pastor of the church. She married David McMahon in August of 1953 while he was serving in the Armed Forces. When Dave was transferred to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Kathy moved with him. She worked as a secretary while Dave fulfilled his responsibilities at Fort Carson. She remembered their time in Colorado with great fondness. The couple returned to Michigan after Dave’s discharge from the Army and ended up purchasing a house right across the street from where Kathy had grown up and where her parents still lived. Soon after returning to Michigan, the couple had a son, Robert and 16 months later a daughter, Sandra. When Dave decided to go back to school for his degree, Kathy found work for a company called Professional Management. While she worked and Dave went to school, her sister Dorothy looked after the kids. Before long a third child came along, Richard, and the family was complete. In 1961 they moved to Gibraltar, Michigan, as Dave had found a teaching job in the nearby town of Trenton. They attended the Detroit Citadel Salvation Army church where Kathy played piano for the Young People’s Singing Company and sang in the choir. The family eventually moved to Riverview, Michigan. Being a teacher, Dave was laid off in the summer months. The couple found work for several summers at the Salvation Army Echo Grove Camp and Conference Center. Dave was the camp director and Kathy worked the front office and the refreshment stand. During the summers of 1969-1973 the family would pack up the car and a small pop-up camper and hit the road the day after school was out and return the day before school began. Those summers included some of Kathy’s most cherished experiences. She and the family visited many of the National Parks and all the lower 48 states. Eventually she got all 50. Kathy remained a stay- at-home mom interspersed with part-time work here and there. After the kids were grown, she went back to work full time for the Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters in Detroit Michigan. In November 1983, after a short illness due to cancer, Dave passed away. The loss of her husband was very hard on Kathy, but she was grateful for the job she had to return to and the support of her three children and their spouses. After a couple of years of being on her own, Kathy was asked to coffee by a friend from her church, Jim Stewart, who had recently lost his wife to cancer. Soon coffee turned to dinner, and friendship turned to love and the two were married in December of 1986. The couple retired in 1992 and spent the following years traveling and visiting their condominium in Florida. They traveled to Scotland, Hawaii (her 50 th state), the Maritime Provinces of Canada and much of the western United States. The couple also enjoyed the arrival of grandchildren from both marriages. Cancer struck again when Jim was diagnosed in 1998. After a two-year battle with the disease, Jim passed away in January of 2000. Heartbroken at the loss of a second love, Kathy said it was harder this time partly because of being older, having less to do and no work to go to. But with the support of her family and friends she continued to lead a life of contentment. Since Jim’s death she has spent 6 weeks in the Autumn and 6 weeks in the Spring in Florida with her son and daughter-in-law. Into her mid 80s she would drive down and back—twice a year with her cat in tow—by herself. The last few years one of the kids would make the trip with her. Kathy was a crossword enthusiast and loved playing Scrabble whenever she could. She loved to travel, having visited four continents in her 89 years. She loved reading newspapers, and she enjoyed politics and current events. She was spiritually strong and trusted in God completely. She was a student of the Scriptures who “rightly divided the word of truth.” Kathy is survived by her brother, Stanley (Juanita) Marks; three children, Robert (Janet) McMahon, Sandra (Russell) Dobney, and Richard (Patti) McMahon; four grandchildren, Karie (Bill Hegyi) McMahon, Daniel (Laura) McMahon, Andrew (Elyse) Dobney, and Brian (Jeanie) Dobney; four great grandchildren, Matthew McMahon, Madison McMahon, Linnea Dobney and Elin Dobney; brother-in-laws, Sherman (Ruth Ann) McMahon and Thomas (Elizabeth) McMahon; sister-in laws, Jan McCann and Carol Archambault; and numerous nieces and nephews. Kathy is preceded in death by her parents, Harvey and Lois Marks; husband, David McMahon; husband, James Stewart; sister-in-law, Eleanor Marks; brother, Kenneth and sister-in-law Madge Marks; sister, Dorothy and brother-in-law Peter Derheim; and great grandchild, David Karl McMahon. A service to honor Kathy’s life will be held Saturday, December 10, 2022, at The Salvation Army, 26700 W. Warren, Dearborn Hts., Michigan. Visitation will be at 10:00 AM with the service at 11:00 AM. Memorial donations may be made to the Salvation Army, 26700 W. Warren, Dearborn Heights, Michigan 48127.