Rachel Lefebure Stewart, President of the
C & O Canal Association, of Arlington, VA died March 8, 2014 in Arlington, VA. She was 73 years old.
The cause of death was mesothelioma lung cancer.
As President of the C&O Canal Association, Mrs. Stewart led the effort to restore the Big Slackwater towpath section of the canal and accepted the Superintendent's Award for Excellence in Citizen Stewardship in 2012 from the US Park Service. The C&O Canal Association traces its origins to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who fought against a plan to replace the 184-mile long canal between Cumberland, MD and Georgetown with a paved highway.
Born in 1940 in the District of Columbia, Mrs. Stewart was a lifelong Washingtonian. Her parents were Henry Pierce Lefebure and Josephine Lefebure (nee Sneeringer). She was a 1958 graduate of Immaculata Preparatory School, Washington; a 1963 graduate of The Catholic University of America; and a graduate of Catholic University's Columbus School of Law.
For 25 years she was Vice President and co-owner of Heritage Title & Escrow Co. in Washington DC. She was a regular volunteer at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from its inception in 1967.
She is survived by her husband of 48 years Joseph B. Stewart, her daughter Lorelei Morgan Stewart of Chicago, her son Adrian Raiford Stewart of New York, NY, her son-in-law Andreas W. Fischer, her daughter-in-law Tara Cohen Stewart and her three grandchildren Obree Emile Fischer, Matthew Jesse Stewart and Gabrielle Skye Stewart. She survived the passing in 1975, also from cancer, of her son Jesse Lefebure Stewart, a patient for a year and a half in the children's oncology ward of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD.
She is also survived by seven siblings, John Lefebure of Ringgold, MD, Charles Lefebure of McHenry, MD, Ellen Larsen of Bethesda, MD, Elizabeth O'Neill of Hagerstown, MD, Paul Lefebure of North Kingstown, RI, Regis Lefebure of Silver Spring, MD, and Richard Lefebure of Frederick, MD.
An avid hiker and lover of the outdoors, Mrs. Stewart regularly hiked the C&O Canal (including completing the 184-mile Thru-Hike in 2009) and the Appalachian Trail. She also frequently hiked in Scotland and attended many World Canals Conference in Europe.
Donations can be made in her name by mailing checks to "In Memoriam - Rachel L. Stewart," C&O Canal Association, P.O. Box 366, Glen Echo, MD 20812-0366.
Or go to their website at: C&O Canal Association.com
A memorial service will be held Tuesday, March 11, 2 to 4 p.m. at the Cunningham Turch Funeral Home, 811 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA.
.Published in The Washington Post on Mar. 10, 2014
