Marnie Dehaven Stewart

Margaret Mary “Marnie” DeHaven Stewart, 102, of Winter Haven, Florida, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2026, surrounded by family.

Born in Winter Haven in 1924, to Margaret McCabe and Ford Jewett DeHaven, Sr., Marnie was a lifelong resident of the community she loved. She graduated from Winter Haven High School in 1942, where she was a cheerleader, the Homecoming Queen, and voted “most popular” by her classmates.

After graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she attended the Washington School for Secretaries. In 1944, she married the love of her life, Peter J. Stewart, a young fighter pilot returning from the Pacific Theater of World War II and stationed at Bartow Air Base. Together, they built a life rooted in love, service, and family.

Marnie embraced life as an Air Force wife, raising six children while supporting her husband’s military career. She was the steady center of the family—packing up homes, moving from station to station, and creating a sense of belonging wherever they went. Known as the consummate officer’s wife, she led base wives’ clubs and served as a mentor and surrogate mother to many young military wives, especially during long deployments.

Above all, Marnie loved being a mother. Her home was a place of warmth, guidance, wonderful humor, and unconditional love. So deep was this calling that she later made a second career as a fraternity housemother at Auburn University for Beta Theta Pi, and later for a sorority at Washington and Lee University for Kappa Alpha Theta. Known as “Mom Stewart” to several hundred, she had a special gift for connecting with young people. To her, everyone was family—and no one ever left her presence without feeling loved.

She is survived by her children: Maggie Greenhill, Jim Stewart (Shanon), Beth Stewart, Bill Stewart (Sloan), and Susie Geiger; as well as her grandchildren Ashley Schwarze, Jack Brandon, Jr. (Liz), Kelli Stewart, Maegan Morrison (Chris), Megan Wiles, Denny Pass (Kandie), Margaret Taunton (Jacob), Ann Mikell Barr (William), Jay Stewart, Clay Geiger, and Logan Geiger (fiancée, Cassidee); and 14 great-grandchildren, all who loved their Mimi.

She is also survived by her sister, Kay Kelley, and her sister-in-law, Laura Daily.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Pete Stewart; her loving daughter, Kandi Wiles; her parents; her sister, Anna Laura; her brother, Ford; her sister-in-law, Frances DeHaven; her son-in-law, Phil Greenhill; and her grandson, Scott Stewart.

A funeral mass will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 23, at St. Matthew Catholic Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her memory to The Mission of Winter Haven, which serves those in need of food and shelter, or The 22 Project, which is dedicated to reducing veteran suicide related to traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress through hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

The Mission of Winter Haven: P.O. Box 2586, Winter Haven, FL 33883

The 22 Project, Inc.: www.support22project.org