Obituary of Sheila Stuart

On January 28, 2024 Sheila M. Stuart (Smith) passed away at the age of 92 surrounded by family. Sheila was born November 26, 1931 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Winifred Smith (Lahey). She married John (Jack) Stuart in 1971 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her pride and joy was raising her three daughters: Barbara, Kathleen and Theresa into the amazing women they are today. In Milwaukee, the family enjoyed sailing on Lake Michigan and Jack and Sheila enjoyed entertaining friends in their home. They could be found either reading together or listening to jazz in the evenings while sipping on scotch. 

In 1978 Sheila and Jack left Milwaukee in search of warmer weather and embarked on an adventure sailing down the Mississippi River.  They landed in Tampa Bay and settled in St. Petersburg. They continued their sailing adventures and took trips to the Florida Keys and US Virgin Islands. 

Sheila was an avid reader throughout her life, continuing to enjoy audio books even now. She enjoyed cooking for her family and was always in charge of the main dishes at family holidays. Sheila loved music more than anything, she played piano, sang with the USF Master Corale,  was a member of several church choirs and had an impressive collection of jazz albums. Sheila was a devout Catholic and a member of the Cathedral of St Jude the Apostle. She was very proud of having encouraged three friends to join the Catholic faith. 

Sheila was preceded in death by her mother, Winifred Lahey; husband, John (Jack) Stuart; sister, Dorothy (Dolly) Hillyer; and Brothers, Edgar (Mal) Smith and Dennis Lahey; and son-in-law, Rick Sadorf.

She is survived by her loving family, including her three daughters: Barbara Sadorf, Kathleen Graham (Brian), Theresa Vanden Heuvel (John Kennedy), her granddaughter Lauren Holdstein (Tom), and her two nieces Janet Lowe (John Marra) and Shannon Shea.

A service will be held in the chapel of the Cathedral of St Jude’s the Apostle (5815 5th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33710) on Saturday, February 17th at 1:30pm.  Reception to follow at the home of Tom and Lauren Holdstein, contact family directly for home address.

In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to Cathedral of St Jude the Apostle (5815 5th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33710).  To Donate, CLICK HERE