While World War II raged in Europe, William T. and Nettie C. Stewart welcomed child number seven of twelve, Jewell, into their lives on February 26, 1941. High-wage employment for Black men was rare in the South. Hearing of better opportunities in Ohio where other family members were living, William T. decided to seek a better life in the North. Not long after Jewell was born, the family of nine packed up their things and moved to Cleveland, Ohio as a part of the Great Migration.
Growing up in Cleveland, Jewell excelled in sports and academics. She was an outstanding baseball player and stood toe-to-toe in skill and ability with her eight brothers. Right-handed, she was often made to bat left-handed to give to the other a fair chance. She often styled herself as the “ninth boy” during family and neighborhood baseball games, making William T. (a life-long baseball fan) proud. Few in the family, or the neighborhood, messed with her as she could throw a rock just as accurately as she could pitch a baseball. It has been said that her aim was so precise that rocks could turn corners and hit the intended recipient in the head as they were running away.
Due to her high intellect, she skipped a grade in school and graduated a year early from John Hay High School in the class of 1958. Her shorthand skills, honed in high school, were second to none.
After spending the year after high school living and working in New York City, she returned to Cleveland and used her strong administrative skill set to work at such places as Job Corp, Weatherhead, and Bailey Controls – where she served as a business analyst when she retired.
Although Jewell was born as the seventh of twelve children, she used to daydream that she was an only child. Family stories are riddled with her mischievousness. She convinced youngest sister, Joyce, that Joyce had been adopted. When Nettie asked a worried Joyce why in the world would Nettie and William adopt a child when they had so many, Joyce realized she had been duped.
Growing up Jewell was closest to sister Irma Jean (two years her elder), but their fights and disagreements were legendary. When Jewell fell from a second story porch onto a nail that pierced her foot, after playing on the outside ledge without permission, she may or may not have incorrectly told their father that Irma pushed her. Jewell routinely hid dirty dishes and pots and pans in the oven the night before Irma’s dish washing week started.
Her brothers also experienced her robust personality. Once, after younger brother Taft wiggled out of being made to go to the store and Jewell was told to go in his place, Taft laughed at her from what he thought was the safety of the front porch. It turns out that Taft wasn’t safe from the rock that Jewell threw at him like a laser beam from way down the street.
Despite her strong temperament, and willingness to throw a rock or two, Jewell loved the Lord and accepted Christ at an early age. She began her spiritual journey at New Jerusalem Baptist Church. She later transferred her membership to Second Mt. Olive Baptist Church on Eddy Road, where she faithfully sang as an alto and tenor with both the Number One Choir and the Mass Choir, served as choir treasurer, and was a church trustee. She looked forward to the yearly mass choir concerts that Second Mt. Olive put on and kept videos of the concerts at home where she rewatched them. Jewell was a member of Second Mt. Olive for more than forty years and served under four pastors. She most recently was a member of Greater Faith Baptist Church, where she sang tenor in the Creation Choir. COVID precautions and her illness prevented her from being as active in the church as she wanted to be over the last two years.
Jewell wasn’t just an outstanding athlete, academic, and singer, she was a wife and mother. She married Charles McCrary in 1965. The marriage produced a son, Dayvid, who was born in 1966. Jewell and Charles divorced. Then she met Jimmy Fields, and they wed on May 16, 1970. The next year their daughter, Lisa, was born. The next child, Kenneth, didn’t appear until 1980. Jewell and Jimmy also enjoyed the company of Jimmy’s eldest daughter, Annette Evelyn, who was born in 1966. Jewell instilled in her children a fierce independence, a love for God, an exceptional vocabulary, and deep affection for family.
Renown for her financial acumen, she spent decades preparing taxes for individuals. Two of her favorite fiscal pastimes were making sure that her check book balanced and monitoring her monthly budget through her beloved spreadsheets. She was often tapped to be the treasurer of the organizations that she belonged to.
She liked singing while playing the piano in her living room (having at one point been the fill-in piano player for the Number One Choir at Second Mt. Olive until a new pianist could be found), sewing, stripping and refinishing old furniture, reading a new book a week, spending time with extended family playing Trivial Pursuit and card games like bid whist and poker, and cooking and feeding her family. Her favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. Jewell also enjoyed bowling and spent decades on teams in bowling leagues, including the “Sunday Funnies” Stewart family league. She routinely served as the treasurer for various bowling leagues.
Jewell’s acerbic wit, amazing vocabulary, and no-nonsense attitude were legendary. She could always be counted on to give you wise advice liberally sprinkled with the unvarnished truth, but only if you asked her opinion first. She very much believed in keeping your word, being on time, and impeccably handling your finances. With Jewell, you always knew where you stood and what she thought about you. She lived life unapologetically and on her own terms, but always seeking God’s will.
Jewell is predeceased by her parents, William and Nettie Stewart; brothers William “Duke” Stewart, John Stewart, James Lee Stewart, and Larry Stewart; and daughter-in-law Cathy
McCrary. She leaves to celebrate her life her husband of fifty-two years, Jimmy Fields; children Dayvid McCrary (Annette) of Las Vegas, Nevada; Magistrate Lisa Thompson (Alfred) of Columbus, Ohio; Kenneth Fields; and stepdaughter Annette Spivey-Willis. She leaves adored grandchildren (of which eight are college graduates) Pastor Ashley McCrary Flores (Stephen), Akira Spivey, Keiona Coleman, Phillip Damien Evans II, Matthew Evans, Dayvid McCrary II,
Alyson McCrary, Tommie “Bizz” Williams, Dr. Aliya Thompson, Aja Willis, Delonte Willis, Ricardo Willis, Kamila Thompson, Khalil Thompson, Ahjanae Williams, Tahjanee Fields, Haleigha Fields, Amir Fields, Kaliq Fields, and Olivia Fields. She leaves great-grandchildren Christian McCrary, Adora Willis, Karter McCrary, Phillip Damien Evans III, Aaliyah McCrary, Yara Evans, Gabriel Flores, Summer McCrary, and Bella Evans. She also leaves siblings Robert
Stewart, Shirley Betts, Irma Jeffries (Ira), Taft Stewart (Renee), Joyce Stewart, Glenn Stewart
(Gaynell), and Reginald Stewart; a host of beloved nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, great-great nieces and great-great nephews, and special friends like Betty Allen. If Jewell were here, she would tell you to keep God first, do what you say you’re going to do, and (in the words of her favorite Star Trek character, Spock) live long and prosper.