Courtney F. Stewart
Sports fan, communications student  

Underdogs and outsiders and those simply feeling down-and-out may not find the same care and comfort in the world, now that 20-year-old Courtney Frances Stewart is no longer in it. Her vibrant beauty may have intimidated some, said her mother, Carrie Stewart-Dixon, but “she was in no way snobby, she was just down to earth and real.” 

“People remember how beautiful she was, but they remember that because it wasn’t all she was,” said Ms. Stewart’s friend and former Claremont High School government teacher and cheerleading advisor, Natalie Dye.

“She didn’t fall into that high school mantra of ‘I am cool’ and ‘do I have the right friends?’ She was just friends with everybody,” Ms. Dye continued. “I’m realizing this even more now that she’s gone. You could put her next to an outcast and she would become total friends with them. She was like an angel to have in class. She would make the whole class mesh.”

On April 9, 2009, Ms. Stewart died in a tragic automobile accident that occurred in Fullerton. The vehicle she was riding in was struck by a minivan whose driver was under the influence of alcohol. Only one of the 4 passengers survived.

Ms. Stewart was born on December 6, 1988 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and moved to Claremont as a young girl. Making the transition to a new school in a new state was “scary for her,” said her mother, but she eventually thrived and learned a valuable lesson that made a significant difference for others suffering from “new kid” anxiety. 

“After that, whenever there was a new student, she was always the one to follow them around. She would walk around with them and get them familiar with everything,” said her mother, Ms. Stewart-Dixon. “She told me when she was 8 or 9 that she remembered how she felt as a new student and wanted to make other new students feel comfortable.”

An outgoing and fun-loving person, Ms. Stewart was a cheerleader in junior high, at Claremont High School and at Cal State Fullerton where she was in her sophomore year in the communications department.

An avid sports fan, her goal was to become a sports broadcaster, an aim that her mother and former teacher were certain she would have accomplished—she could do anything she wanted in life, they, and certainly others, believed.

“She always said she was on a mission,” said Ms. Stewart-Dixon. “Once she would find something she wouldn’t stop. She always finished what she planned.”

“I remember writing to her,” began Ms. Dye of CHS, “that she would be so successful. She was one of those students you didn’t worry about because you just know she was going to do so well, not only because she could talk to adults with such poise and confidence—she just had it all. She was really the complete package.”

“I knew that whatever she put her mind to,” continued Ms. Dye,” she would make it happen. That’s why it’s such a tragedy for all of us, such a tragedy to happen to such a bright girl with so much potential.”

Recently, bull riding began to fascinate Ms. Stewart and she placed her sights on becoming a broadcaster in rodeo world. Her love of anything related to the Southwest—country music, cowboys, rodeos, etc.—formed the foundation of her interest in this sport.

But baseball was her true passion. She enjoyed countless games with friends and family members—her family carried season tickets for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—and sometimes even enjoyed a game on her own. 

“She just loved baseball,” said her mother. “She was pretty much a regular at Angel Stadium, and even if her friends couldn’t make it, she would go by herself. And it didn’t matter who it was or which team was on TV, as long as a baseball game was on during the weekend or week, she’d have it on.”

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, a friend of Ms. Stewart’s, was a fellow passenger and victim of the automobile accident on April 9.

Ms. Stewart also enjoyed golfing, dirt biking and line dancing. 

While studying communications at Cal State Fullerton, Ms. Stewart enjoyed membership in the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. With her sorority sisters, she was involved in a number of philanthropic activities.

And to the very end, she demonstrated her generosity.

“About a month before the accident, I received my new driver’s license in the mail, and I was hesitant about the donor sticker,” said her mother. “But Courtney said, ‘mom, how can you not do that?’ She had hers and was able to donate…even in death, she was a very giving person.”

Ms. Stewart will be remembered as a young woman who lived life to the fullest, expressed both friends and family.

“I will miss her passion and her fervor for life,” said her former teacher and friend, Ms. Dye. “And her ability to make anything memorable.”

And beginning each day with a fresh perspective and a happy attitude, Ms. Stewart prepared for the challenges and excitement of life in her own unique way: a bowl of soup almost every morning for breakfast.

Ms. Stewart is survived by her mother and stepfather, Carrie Stewart-Dixon and Richard Dixon, both Claremont High School graduates, of Diamond Bar; by her father and stepmother, Chris and Keri Stewart of Laughlin, Nevada; by her stepbrother, Corey Dixon of Diamond Bar; by her grandparents, Marylen Hart of Claremont and Dave and Prudy Stewart of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and by numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

A memorial service was held on April 16, 2009 at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Pomona.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial donations be made to the Be Perfect Foundation, a foundation close to Ms. Stewart’s heart and founded by her dear friend, Hal Hargrave, Jr., to aid funding for spinal cord injury patients. Donations may be made on the foundation’s website: www.beperfectfoundation.com.