Ernest Eldon Steward

COMMUNITY SPRINGS RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT FOR NOVEMBER –  – Eldon Steward is our Community Springs November 2024 “Spotlight” resident. We are recognizing him for a number of reasons – an important one being that this month we recognize our Veterans as we celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

   Eldon was born Wednesday, April 13, 1932 in Montevallo, MO – the son of Ernest Everett and Velma Bell (Hiestand) Steward. He has one brother, Gerald Dwain Steward and had a sister Lois Allene (Steward) Arnold who passed away in 2013. When Eldon was quite young, the family moved a short distance down the road to a farm owned by the Forney’s which Eldon’s dad later purchased, so Montevallo was home to him most all of his life. He attended elementary school at Green Ridge then went on to graduate from El Dorado Springs High School in 1950. During his high school years he participated in football where he broke his leg, played baseball and ran track. He also played on a local Montevallo traveling baseball team, competing against other area teams in Milo, Sheldon, Nevada and Dederick. He commented that he had “the car”, a 1942 Chevy Coupe, “so I hauled everyone around – that was pretty popular”. But there was something else that started in high school, a budding romance with Carolyn Pope, that began in Study Hall. I pointed out to him that I didn’t believe that was really the intended idea for that class time. He chuckled. Shortly following graduation he enlisted in the United States Navy where he trained then operated as a Diesel Mechanic, mostly working on the military’s fleet of boats including the “USS Kermit Roosevelt,” a repair ship named after President Theodore Roosevelt’s son, spending time in Japan during the Korean Conflict as well as other military ports.  After four years in the Navy, he came back to the Kansas City area where he worked laying sod and drove a dump truck; and where he reconnected with Carolyn who was teaching in the metropolitan area. Things worked out well for them and just prior to their marriage on June 8, 1957 he had purchased a farm in the Montevallo area where he ran beef cattle and row-cropped farmed — and had a penchant for John Deere and Massey-Ferguson machinery. He also raised bird dogs and loved to quail hunt. Early in their married life Eldon and Carolyn were blessed with a daughter Susan, who suffered from many health challenges. They moved to town to be near healthcare while Eldon continued to travel to the farm to work. Their sweet Susan passed at age 9.    

   In visiting with Eldon to catch up on some fun added high points, he commented on several “things” in his well-lived life. Something that kept re-surfacing was the fact that he mentioned, “you should have known my Dad – he was someone that seemed to think that I drove too fast and hoped I lived to be 18 because of it, guess that was maybe because I liked to race the ’42 Chevy Coupe and sometimes ‘sweep’ the tracks to hide from him – and of course, I was driving on his gas. Dad also didn’t want the farm machinery torn up, imagine that. Later on when I drove a school bus, I slowed down.” He also mentioned that he always enjoyed having a new tractor on the ground – that his favorite color is blue and that coconut cream pie is at the top of his list for desserts. He said he enjoyed collecting Civil War cannons, knives and guns, and is still a die-hard “Chevy man”. He added that he grew up in the Glade Springs Missionary Baptist Church and was baptized in Horse Creek, said the family sold eggs on Saturdays in Montevallo and that his Momma could cook “anything” and “whipped us the most,” from the stories he tells, perhaps he needed it.

   After retiring, he and Carolyn traveled extensively – to all 50 states, several continents and enjoyed a nice Cruise from time to time. “Thank you” Eldon for your service to our country! Doesn’t seem like they make men like him much anymore. By Jeanne Hoagland, CMH Marketing Coordinator