Family, friends and the St. Louis community prepare to say goodbye to Rev. Demetrius L. Stewart. The beloved 45-year-old Spanish Lake resident was a husband, dad, minister, mentor and friend whose life ended on February 1 as an innocent victim of gun violence, a bystander to someone else’s altercation at the Tropicana Lanes bowling alley. A 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with his murder.
On Monday, February 4, hundreds gathered at Hyde Park in St. Louis to honor Stewart and to remember what he meant to countless others. That outpouring of love and support for his family continues as they prepare for his final services, which will be held Friday, February 8, at West Side Baptist Church at 4675 Page Blvd.
“It was a privilege to love him and to be loved by him. He fulfilled his purpose on earth. He was totally selfless. He was the love of my life, and he saved my life. He is my hero. It is amazing to see how our marriage blessed others,” his wife, Shantana Stewart, told The American.
“He saw his love for me as strength and not a weakness. We served each other. He looked for ways to bless and spoil me. He looked for ways to make us smile. He adored his children and would move heaven and earth to provide them enriching activities. He was an all-around dad, supporting both of his children in various ways, from being a baseball coach to Girl Scout Green Knight. He enabled his kids to fulfill their dreams.”
She said he mentored, served, minister to and loved many youth and people in the community.
“Hopefully something good will come out of this,” she said. “My hope is that it will make people love each other more and hold each other closer. Maybe more people will slow down and appreciate every day. I hope that people will embrace children like my husband did, and that they will love them and catch them before they fall in to a life full of anger and rage.”
Stewart’s brother, Darrell Shiner, said, “This has been an angry time for us, for the way things happened, but he would want us to forgive, because as a Christian and a pastor, he was always saying, ‘Things are not always right, and we don’t know why God has let these things happen, but we have to pretty much understand that it’s His will and all things happen for a reason, and as Christians, we have to forgive.’”
Shiner described Stewart as a man one would have a hard time finding fault in, who loved everyone and was always busy helping others.
“When he wasn’t with his family, then he’s with the Alphas, and he was doing things in the community – whether it was benefits, helping out with charities and different events,” Shiner said. “And when he wasn’t doing that, he was with his wife, doing date nights.”
Stewart also served as chaplain for his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, reaching out to members who had lost loved ones or were sick or infirm.
His fraternity brother and longtime good friend Marcus Creighton said, “Demetrius showed up to just about everything, whether we were mentoring kids, whether we had a community service project, whether it was something involved with the church event – you pretty much name it.”
Creighton established a GoFundMe account as a memorial fund and for his teenage children’s education. The Demetrius Stewart Memorial Scholarship Fund on GoFundMe thus far has raised more than $25,000.
“Expenses come up, whether it’s final expenses or making sure that the kids need nothing,” Creighton said. “We set up the GoFundMe account because there were so many people asking: how can we give? What can we do? Then I went ahead and set up a Demetrius Stewart Memorial Fund at U.S. Bank just to give people an alternative to the GoFundMe account. Multiple ways they can contribute.”
Stewart is survived by his wife, Shantana; son, Samuel; daughter, Sydney; mother, Joanne Shiner; father, Douglas Shiner; brother, Darrell Shiner (Tiatay); and a host of relatives, church family, fraternity and a community of friends from throughout the St. Louis region and beyond.
Visitation with the family is 9 a.m. to noon Friday, February 8 at Westside Missionary Baptist Church, 4675 Page Blvd., St. Louis, 63113. An Alpha Phi Alpha Omega chapter ceremony will take place at the beginning of the visitation. The funeral service immediately follows at noon, with interment at St. Peter’s Cemetery, 2101 Lucas and Hunt Rd. in St. Louis.
