Anna Lou Stewart

Anna Lou Stewart was born on September 25, 1941, in Craig, Colorado, and went home to heaven on March 14, 2025, at the age of 83. She was the only daughter of Lawrence and Joyce Yost, joining big brother Ronald Yost, whom she adored. After an early childhood in Colorado, her father was transferred to Dallas, Texas, and then on to Port Arthur in 1948 to work at the Texaco refinery. Anna Lou grew up in Port Arthur and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1959. She was a member of the Red Hussars Drum and Bugle Corps, a Cavoilcade princess, Worthy Advisor of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, and a member of the Methodist Temple.

After business school at Port Arthur College, she went to work at Texaco. It was there that she met her husband James William Burroughs, a young engineer from Shreveport, LA. They were married in November 1964. She and James made their first home in the Texaco cottages near the refinery, and it was there that they began a family. In 1972, they moved to the West End of Beaumont, where she would then spend the rest of her adult life. Two daughters and a son kept her busy. She was an involved parent and active volunteer for the myriad of activities in which her children were involved. PTA member, room mom, Campfire Girls leader, and sports team mom were all roles she played with enthusiasm over the years. In the spring of 1977, James fell ill and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In a matter of months, Anna Lou suddenly found herself a young widow with three small children. By her faith, and with the help of family and friends, she worked hard to provide love and continuity for her children as the family adjusted to life without James.

In 1979, she married Randolph Johnson Stewart, another engineer whom she had previously known through Texaco. He had two children of his own, so she gained a stepson and a stepdaughter. Until his death in 2022, they did life together: raising kids, building a lake house, gaining sons-and-daughters-in-law, being grandparents, endless DIY projects, trying new restaurants with their dinner club group, growing gardens and flowers and blueberry bushes, traveling the world, spending time with family and friends, and investing in their church and their community. Their life was busy, full and impactful.

Anna Lou’s life was largely defined by her commitment to her family, her friends, and her faith. She rarely missed an opportunity to be present and engaged in the lives of the people important to her, always making the effort to support, encourage, and offer help any way she could. She loved attending her children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events, school programs, church choir concerts, and all meaningful life occasions. She was also the willing caregiver when any one of them was sick, injured, or in need of assistance.

An avid traveler, she was blessed with opportunities to visit almost all 50 states, a host of countries, and 4 continents, with both family and friends. She had a huge appreciation for the beauty of God’s earth and was never more at peace than when in a beautiful setting, preferably surrounded by flowers, birds, and butterflies. She had quite a green thumb and planted extensive flowerbeds both at home and at their lake house on Toledo Bend. Everything from azaleas and dogwoods, daffodils and iris, hydrangeas and wildflowers thrived under her expert care. It was her own little slice of heaven on earth.

Her faith in God spanned a lifetime. She was raised in church and in a home that believed in the Lord. As an adult, she continued in the faith in which she had been raised and became a life-long member of Trinity UMC. She was actively involved in many of the ministries of the church including playing handbells, the annual church garage sale, serving on various committees, ushering, Senior Breakfast, hospital visitation, the Trinitarian, and the Harvesters Sunday School class. She had a heart for volunteerism and those less fortunate, and serving at Some Other Place soup kitchen brought her great joy. In 2011, she had the opportunity to travel to Israel, walk where Jesus had walked, and be baptized in the Jordan River. Even as Alzheimer’s robbed her of so much of her memories in the last years, the faith that defined her remained. Even until the end, she could recite the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, and sing along with the hymns that had been a part of her whole life.

Her greatest joy and legacy are in the family she leaves behind. She is survived by her daughter, Julie Burroughs Overton and husband, Rob, of Waco, Texas; son, Steven Burroughs and wife, Rachael of Southlake, Texas; daughter, Amy Burroughs of Houston, Texas; stepson, John Stewart and wife, Kristanne Clubb, of Denver, Colorado; stepdaughter, Stephanie Stewart and husband, Mike St. Clair, of Portland, Oregon; grandson, Joshua Overton and wife, Tori; grandson, Daniel Overton and wife, Molly; and granddaughters, Olivia Burroughs and Eleanor St. Clair. In addition, she is survived by her great-grandson, Graham Robert Overton, who was born on the same day that she went home to heaven. Anna Lou was blessed with a large extended family that included Yosts, Burroughs, and Stewarts, and she is survived by numerous siblings-in-law, nieces and nephews on all sides.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 6055 South Loop East, Houston, Texas 77087 give online; the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, Maryland 21741 give online; or Some Other Place, P.O. Box 0843, Beaumont, Texas 77704 give online, all causes near to her heart.

A memorial service for Mrs. Stewart will begin at 2:00 p.m., with a gathering of her family and friends to follow until 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. Her cremation arrangements were handled through Broussard’s Crematorium.