Delivering mail and messages: Anchorage woman remembered for dedication to postal service
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A woman who dedicated decades to the U.S. Postal Service was laid to rest on Tuesday.
Queen Esther Walker Stewart was remembered by loved ones this week, after losing her second battle with breast cancer last week at the age of 71.
“I’m heartbroken, but I know Jesus said this is the way, the truth, the light that we have to transcend out of this life to the next life,” Cad Stewart, her husband, said. “There’s so much to tell you about her.”
Her children, Antonio and Princess Walker, remember their mother as a giver who showed them love from day one.
“How I try to impact other people is based off watching her do that her entire life,” her son Antonio said. “I think cancer won the battle with her body, but it didn’t win the battle with her spirit. And that’s the bottom line.”
His sister, Princess, added that her mother taught her “you can be harsh and still be fair. And still do it all with love and grace.”
According to her husband, Stewart moved to Anchorage while serving with the U.S. Air Force. After ending her service, she went on to spend 42 years working with the postal service, a community that her husband described as her family.
“She was more than just somebody who dropped the mail in the box. She was a part of their family,” Cad Stewart said. “She had a chance to interact with other customers. Some customers only would see her.”
Cad Stewart added that she enjoyed watching the children on her routes grow up.
During her funeral on Tuesday, dozens of postal service vehicles were lined up outside the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Anchorage’s Fairview neighborhood.
Her co-workers took the time to share the legacy that Stewart left behind for them.
“She had such a heart. She gave and gave and gave,” Roger Viena, her boss, said. “When you classify hard workers, she was on another level. People got off at 4 o’clock. She wouldn’t get done until six or seven, until the work was done. Now, mind you, she’s 70 years old.”
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