Obituary of Annette Condon Stewart

On Monday, October 22, 2018, Annette Condon Stewart, loving wife and mother of three, passed away at the age of 56.  Annette was born on August 28, 1962 in Ottumwa, Iowa to Dick and Doris Condon.  She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Black Hills University, after growing up in Pierre, South Dakota.  She taught continuously in public schools since 1985.  

Annette had a passion for teaching young students to read.  This was particularly true of students entering kindergarten.  She loved seeing them “get it,” as well as exposing them to the joy of owning their first book.  Her passion for her students extended beyond the school day as she maintained contact with many of them after they graduated from her classroom.  She has been part of the Olympia Public School community since 1990, and spent weekends, free time, and her energy finding new ways to engage her students.  Her pride in their accomplishments was evident in the way she spoke to and about them.  Her family estimates that she had direct contact and influenced nearly 1,000 young students beginning their academic careers.  Her colleagues simply say that “She was the best kindergarten teacher ever.”

Annette was a loving mother and faithful wife.  She relished her role as the grandmother of three and could hardly wait to teach her grandchildren to read.  She enjoyed time with her husband and children, including spending time in nature, traveling to her family homestead in Iowa, and returning to the site of her childhood in South Dakota.  In between her trips to the Midwest, she also enjoyed trips to Hawaii.

She maintained lifelong connections with her childhood friends, and thrived as part of the Olympia school community.  Her friends and family remember her as an extraordinarily sweet individual who also had learned how to be stern, especially when she had to point her teaching finger to get your attention.   She is a remembered as a quiet person who was not shy about calling her legislators to impress upon them the importance of any cause she thought mattered.

Annette had a passion for the environment and animals, especially elephants.  In recent years, she was proud of the fact that she had become an Ambassador for the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.  She felt strongly that her responsibility was to give voice to these magnificent animals who couldn’t speak for themselves and deserved better than a circus or a zoo.

In 1994, she met the love of her life, John Stewart.  She married him in 1999 after a rather long courtship.  They both said that they each had the great fortune of falling in love with their best friend.  Annette was a beloved wife, a loving mother, an adoring grandmother, and a faithful friend.  She will be missed by her husband, John: her children, Travis Miller (Chelci) of Ann Arbor Michigan, Beth Miller of Seattle, Washington, and Jake Stewart of Olympia; her grandchildren, Jaydon, Rhett, and Addyson; her parents, Dick and Doris Condon; her sister and brother-in-law, Doreen and Bill Wagner; and four dear nieces.  

In lieu of flowers, Annette had requested that donations be made to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, which can be found at www.elephants.com.