Victoria (Yagua) Stewart, 80, of the Willimansett section of Chicopee, was Called Safely Home on Wednesday, August 13, 2014. She passed into Eternal Life at Willimansett Center East in Chicopee surrounded by the care and comfort of her loving family and her wonderful caregivers. She was born in Zaragoza, Spain on August 25, 1933, a beloved daughter of the late Isidro Yagua and Pilar De La Orden. She was raised in Spain and lived there for many years where she met and later married her late husband, Jack, on May 21, 1960. As the wife of a career United States Air Force veteran, she traveled the country with him until his retirement in 1976 when they settled in the Willimansett section of Chicopee. She was employed for many years as a cook at the Willimansett Nursing Homes in Chicopee and had last worked as a cook for the Chicopee School Department at the Lambert-Lavoie Elementary School. Active in her Catholic faith, she was a longtime communicant of the former Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Willimansett. Upon the closing of her church, she became a communicant of Sainte Rose de Lima Church in Aldenville. Most of all, Victoria was a wonderful homemaker to her family and showered them with her love and affection which was returned to her a thousand fold. She was predeceased by her beloved husband and best friend, John H. Jack Stewart, Sr. who was Called Home on December 6, 2005. They were married in Spain and were blessed with over 45 years of happiness together. She leaves her four loving children, Vicky A. Esteves and her husband, James, of Ludlow, William C. Stewart and his wife, Linda, of Springfield, Lilly S. Guilmette and her husband, Robert, of Chicopee, and John H. Stewart, Jr. of Chicopee; her 15 cherished grandchildren; her two cherished great grandchildren; her dear sister, Aurora Bagues and her husband, Luis; her dear brother, Jesus Yagua and his wife, Conceita, all of Spain; and her many dear nephews, nieces, cousins, and extended members of the Stewart and Yagua families. Besides her parents and husband, she was also predeceased by her cherished granddaughter, Shena Elizabeth Stewart. Her funeral will be held on Monday morning, August 18, 2014 beginning at the St. Pierre Phaneuf Aldenville Chapels, (413-532-9806), 13 Dale Street, Chicopee, MA 01020, (funeral home will open at 8 a.m.), followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in Sainte Rose de Lima Church, 600 Grattan Street, Chicopee, MA 01020. Her Committal Service will follow the Mass at 11 a.m. in the Chapel at the Massachusetts Veterans' Memorial Cemetery, 1390 Main Street, Agawam, MA 01001. Her family will receive friends at the funeral home on Sunday, August 17, 2014 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The parking lot and main entrance are located in the rear of the funeral home at 20 Lafayette Street, Chicopee, MA 01020. Her family has requested that memorial donations be made in her memory to the Alzheimer's Association, 264 Cottage Street, Springfield, MA 01104. For more details, please visit: www.stpierrephaneuf.com

[Published in The Springfield Republican from Aug. 14 to Aug. 15, 2014]