Elder Story – Evelyn from The Villa

Let’s Meet Evelyn!

As we move further into summer, we are featuring Elder Stories from each of the Homes. The Villa would like to feature Evelyn Stewardson, who has lived here since 2022. She is 82 and turning 83 at the end of August. Evelyn has lots of interests including bingo, colouring, and church. She also enjoys sewing, knitting, and dancing. She used to sing in a choir and liked to travel around Ontario when she was younger.

Evelyn grew up in Uttoxeter on a dairy farm with two brothers by her side, Kenneth and her younger brother Raymond. They went to school in Forest and it was called “Forest District High School” at the time. After she graduated, she went to Port Huron for Cosmetology school and became a hairdresser. She was later hired at Twilight Haven, which was the Long-Term Care Home on the property before Lambton Meadowview Villa. Evelyn also loved to dance and always went to the junior farmers hall dance which was in the Plympton-Wyoming town office. Her dad played the piano and her uncle played the violin for these events. She met her husband Jim at one of the dances and they married 4 years later.

Evelyn has a big family tree. She and Jim have 3 sons and 1 daughter together which are Kevin, Keith, Sheldon and Sheila. She also loves her many grandchildren.

Evelyn was a country girl, and moved from her dairy farm in Uttoxeter, to another farm on a road that was later named “Stewardson Sideroad”. It had 130 acres of land and she shared the work and helped out as much as she could. She loved horses and loved showing them which was mostly just the Shetland and Hackney ponies. She showed in the spring at many different places, including Aylmer, Leamington, Walkerton, Markham, and at the Royale. She started young at 5 or 6 and she had big grey work horses to start with and even rode them sometimes without a second thought!