Clarence Steward

HALTOM CITY -- Clarence M. Steward, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend, passed away at his home Sunday, April 11, 2010, after a brief illness.        Funeral: 2 p.m. Thursday at Birdville Baptist Church, 3141 Carson St., Haltom City, with the Rev. Dr. Tom Howe, senior pastor, officiating. Interment: Bourland Cemetery in Keller. Visitation: The family will receive friends 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Lucas Funeral Home, 1321 Precinct Line Road, Hurst.        He was born March 1, 1938, delivered by his maternal grandmother at their dairy farm in Smithfield. He was the first-born of five children of Clarence E. Steward and Clara Haire Steward. He grew up in Haltom City and later resided in the original home that his family homesteaded in 1945. He was a proud graduate of Birdville High School.        He married his high school sweetheart and best friend, Norma Bailey Steward, on Aug. 8, 1956. Three sons were born to their marriage: Clarence Martin, Philip Claude and Jason Eric Steward.        He was a natural-born athlete and avid sportsman. He was still working as a manufacturer's representative for fishing equipment and designing fishing lures for a national distributor. He began his career in the sporting goods business at Nash Hardware in 1956 and founded his own manufacturer's representative agency in        1968, Steward-Stevenson Sales. He found his natural niche early in life and was fortunate to earn a living for his family doing what he loved and enjoyed.        His family responsibilities were always an important part of his life and he assumed the role of family patriarch after the death of his father.        Survivors: Wife, Norma Steward; and sons, Mart and his wife, Patti Steward, Phil Steward and Jason Steward; grandchildren, Amanda, Cody, Matthew, Jessica and Gage; and sisters, Wanda and Bobby Branham, Shirley and Mike Snodgrass, Judy Lee and Joyce Bausch. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Clarence Steward please visit our Sympathy Store.