Connie (Ward) Stewart

Connie Ward Stewart 11/19/1938-4/13/2022, born in Oconee County, GA, was daughter of Fred Tendal Ward, Sr. and Elsie Janes Ward. She died in the Hospice Unit at Emory University Hospital after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. A Celebration of Life will be held on April 30, 2pm at The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta.
A charter member of Friendship Presbyterian Church, built by her father, Connie attended Oconee High School and graduated from Athens High. She was a lifelong educator, journalist, and campaign strategist, known as a trailblazer for women. Stewart was first in her family to attend college. She completed master's level degrees in Radio/TV from UGA School of Journalism, mentored by Dean John Drewry, with later education at Harvard and George Washington Universities. She received the Alumna Achievement Award from the UGA School of Journalism in 1996. Post-college, she worked on and off camera at WSB-TV and married newscaster Don Stewart, then birthing daughter Sheri Lyn. She was an educator in Atlanta schools, volunteered with the Georgia Press Association, Cracker Crumble, Garden Club, and Democratic Party groups and campaigns. At 23, Stewart was appointed by Gov. Carl Sanders to the Georgia State Scholarship Commission. Through it, she befriended State Senator Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn, earning the nickname, along with Carter and editor/publisher of the AJC Hal Gulliver, as "The Three Musketeers".  After divorce, Stewart took a Journalism faculty position at UGA, and became the college-wide Director of Orientation, breaking ground by selecting racially diverse Orientation Leaders.
Stewart was on both of Carter's gubernatorial campaign teams and Gov. Carter appointed her to the nation's first state-government-related Film Commission, which became the model for the rest of the U.S. and the predecessor for Georgia's current thriving film industry. She served as Editor of the Oconee Enterprise newspaper and married fellow faculty member/journalist/author-editor Emory “Pete" Sasser, later moving to Tampa when he accepted a Dean position at USF.
Throughout her busy professional life, Stewart always made time for family and friends. She was a parent leader for Sheri’s high school theater and choral groups. After a major role in the FL presidential campaign, she served on Carter’s White House transition team creating the Dept. of Education and as Policy Communications Director for Education with Asst. Sec. of Education in HEW, Dr. Mary Francis Berry.
Stewart served in executive appointments at two universities, Michigan State with Pres. Cecil Mackey, as the first female VP of any Big Ten school (where she met her “third and best” husband, renown Sports Information Director Nick Vista), and Emory (where she was Assoc. VP in the James Laney Administration). She accepted numerous volunteer roles at the Carter Presidential Center/Library,  including multiple terms on the Board of Councilors and with her favorite being Docent for school groups. She also served on the Bid Committee for the Atlanta Olympics, and she even inspired the hit love song Still, as confirmed by Bill Anderson.
Connie’s greatest pride remained her family. She enjoyed family trips throughout Europe and relished being a doting “GranC “ to her grandsons Tendal Jaret and Royce Carter Mann. As they write, “ …she will continue to live on through the actions and words of everyone she touched, from family and friends to students and co-workers to the countless young women whom she inspired through her barrier-breaking work… Rest peacefully, you deserve it. The world is better because you were in it.”
Stewart was preceded in death by her parents, brother Fred Tendal Ward, Jr., and her three husbands Donald George "Don" Stewart, Emory "Pete" Sasser, and Nicholas "Nick" Vista. She is survived by daughter Sheri Mann Stewart , grandsons Tendal and Royce Mann, niece and nephew Teresa and Jason Ward and their families, and sister-in-law Rosalyn Ward, as well as former son-in-law Barry Stewart Mann. In lieu of flowers, donations to any of the following are encouraged.
A) “The MLK Scholarship benefits extraordinary students from Atlanta Public Schools.”
https://together.emory.edu/MLKStewart  (In Memory of Connie Stewart), Or by mail: Gifts may be sent to the Office of Gift Accounting, Emory University, 1762 Clifton Road NE, Suite 1400, MS: 0970-001-8AA, Atlanta, GA 30322-4001. Please note that the gift is for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Scholarship at Emory, in memory of Connie Stewart.
B) The Carter Center, Link for online memorial gift:
https://secure3.convio.net/carter/site/Donation2…, Mail-in memorial gift: The Carter Center, Attn: Development Services, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307
Memo line: “In memory of Connie Stewart
C) Michigan State University “The Student Emergency Assistance Fund”, in memory and honor of
Connie Stewart: https://supportforstudents.msu.edu/funds/2016-student-emergency-assistance-fund
Lord and Stephens Funeral Home, EAST, Athens, GA is in charge of arrangements.