After 89 years, my mother died on Monday, February 25th, 2008.
The daughter of Hosea Henry Stewart and Gertrude (Grady) Stewart, Esther Beatrice Stewart was born on September 27, 1918 in Princeton, IN. There she graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School. She received secretarial training and became a legal secretary to her uncle, Cornelius R. Richardson, Esq., who was among the first Negro Attorneys in Indiana and a delegate to the Republican National Convention. Through his generous assistance, she was able to attend nursing school at Provident Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.
She graduated with honors, a member of the first class of nurses eligible for registration, and successfully passed the Illinois state examination for certification as a Registered Nurse. She volunteered to the Negro Army Nurse Corp during World War II and was commissioned Second Lieutenant.
While stationed at Fort Bragg, she met Staff Sergeant Johnnie W. McLaurin. Both served at the 25th station hospital, Monrovia, Libera, West Africa, where they married. Her beloved husband of 53 years proceeded her in death in 1996.
They had six children; Michael Stewart McLaurin Esq., Martha Suzanne (Tucker),
Allan Jonathan, Melva Jane, John William, and Marcus Henry. We all were born and
grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts.
In addition to mothering and nurturing her family, she obtained her Massachusetts State certification as a Registered Nurse. She then joined the Staff of Wesson Maternity Hospital
(now a part of the Baystate complex) as its first Registered Nurse of color. After over 30 years of service, primarily in the premature and neo-natal intensive care nurseries, she retired in 1983.
Esther McLaurin was preceeded in death by her twin brothers, Denver and Henry Stewart of Princeton, Indiana, and her parents. Her beloved husband of 53 years, my father Johnnie W. McLaurin, preceeded her in death in 1996.
My parents have left behind 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren,
and a huge hole in my heart.
Email: marc@ideamechanix.com
