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From friends of Dr. Stewart:
I am very sorry to hear of her death. Felicia Stewart was my hero for many years and still is. She was professional, funny, caring, and incredibly talented. Every time I order ECP I think of her inspiration. I feel so honored to have known her. She will always be a hero to me and all the women I see.
Jo Ann Woodward, RNC, BSN, NP
Submitted on: Thu 4/20/2006 10:51 AM |
Felicia Stewart was a leader in supporting womens rights to control their bodies. She was a warm. compassionate, caring person with great knowledge of contraception and elective pregnancy termination. During her lifetime she served as a role model for many people interested in contraception. Felicia was a strong supporter of the journal Contraception, and made many valuable contributions to this jounal. Her presence will be greatly missed.
Dan Mishell, MD
Lyle G. McNeile Professor and Chair
USC School of Medicine, Dept. of Ob/Gyn
Editor and Chief, Contraception: An International Reproductive Health Jornal
Submitted on: Wed 04/19/2006 6:41 PM |
She was my doctor for a short time and I remember her as a very nice and caring person.
Sandra Tyler Duncan
Submitted on: Thu 4/20/2006 9:45 AM |
One of the great things of our work is meeting and becoming a friend of a person like Felicia. She had so many professional and human qualities. She was an MD who never forgot that serving others is at the core of being an MD, at the same time she was a scientist, always on top of the latest knowledge. She was so committed to women's rights and women's reproductive health. We would not be where we are now without her. I was always amazed of her knowledge and sensitivity for all cultures. She understood so well and cared so much for the needs of vulnerable women.
Roberto Rivera, MD
Family Health International
Submitted on: Thu 4/20/2006 9:11 AM |
Felicia's death is a profound loss; her life a profound message. She will live on in precious memories for those of us priviledged to know her, to work with her. She will live on in legacy as her pioneering, caring work is magnified by its influence on the future of reproductive health.
Here in California she was a gift to our statewide family planning program, Family PACT (Planning, Access, Care and Treatment) and to the poor, uninsured clients it served. I was with the program until 2004 and was blessed to have Dr. Stewart as a program advisor and as my friend. She had a unique fervor about a client's right to quality care delivered by competent clinicians. From provider education, to practice standards, to state of the art services including access to all family planning method options - she viewed issues from a client perspective and had ideas to shape the "system" to get it done. She walked the talk.
Felicia, thank you for your passion, your inspired leadership. Thank you for showing us how a clever phrase and disarming wit dressed in good humor shed hope and light on challenge. May we honor you by seeking to emulate your example.
Janet N. Treat PHN, MN
Chief of Clinical Services (Retired)
Office of Family Planning
California Department of Health Services
Sacramento, CA
Submitted on: Thu 4/20/2006 1:51 AM |
I never met Felicia. But the words of her friends and colleagues inspired me to write about her. The words I read of many of her friends show how much she changed the lives of millions of women through her work and dedication. Its really a great loss and the void is difficult to be filled. However her accomplishments will always be a ray of hope for those who want to improve the lives of millions of women in different regions of the world.
Enayat ur Rehman
Senior Training /Research Officer
Population Council
Islamabad Pakistan
Submitted on: Wed 4/19/2006 11:41 PM |
Hugs from me! Big Hug! Hugs and Love! Felicia never ended an email or a conversation without offering hugs. I will miss her friendship and her hugs.
Robin Barnes
Submitted on: Wed 4/19/2006 11:15 PM |
I met Felicia in 1971 when we were first-year residents together at UCSF. Felicia had taken a year off after internship to be the medical director and then a clinician under the infamous Bernie Nathanson at a large abortion clinic in New York City. Having come straight out of internship, I was most impressed by Felicia’s dedication and accomplishments at that very early stage of her medical career. As we rotated together most of that year, we became very good friends and confidantes. Felicia left the residency, married Gary, and was a very busy abortion provider in the Bay Area for a year or so before moving to Sacramento. Our professional paths crossed again in 1978 when I joined Gary and Felicia in their OB/GYN practice in Sacramento. At that time Felicia was one of two female OB/GYNs in the Sacramento area, and, as a result, our practice attracted a large and challenging clientele. Felicia was a superb clinician and a joy to work with both in the practice and at Planned Parenthood where Gary was the Medical Director and Felicia and I were the Associate Medical Directors. Even then, Felicia was spouting ideas and projects at a dizzying pace. Beyond the clinical world, my wife, Andrea, and I enjoyed many fun times with Gary and Felicia. Her ideas for enjoying life were unforgettable. One New Year’s Eve, she rolled back the rugs in the family room, hung a mirrored ball, and put on all the oldies for a good ol’ rock’n roll New Year’s Eve sock hop! I left the practice in 1982 but returned to UC Davis a few years later, and again Gary and Felicia recruited me to work part-time at Planned Parenthood. For the next ten years we picked up where we had left off as neighbors, colleagues, and close friends. Felicia’s Dungeness crab dinners and chocolate bombe desserts were a gastronomic delight. We moved away in 1992, and Felicia went to Washington as DASPA in 1994. One of her major accomplishments during her time in Washington was figuring out how to get her grand piano into her second story apartment with a narrow entrance stairway (through the window in the back…quite a project). One very kind and memorable thing that Felicia did for Andrea was to write a letter of recommendation for the MPH epidemiology program at Emory. The department chairman described the letter as so glowing, so complimentary that surely “only a mother could have written it.” Once Andrea launched her career in public health, Felicia continued to be her enthusiastic supporter and occasional mentor. When I moved to NIH, I was very pleased to find that Felicia was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Clinical Trials Network I that took over, giving us the opportunity to see her again on a regular basis. I was even more pleased when Felicia was elected to the Board at ARHP and then followed me as Board Chair. I’m glad she followed rather than preceded me, as I could have never measured up to her performance as Board Chair. I have so many vivid memories of Felicia, her warm smile and joyous sense of life. She has left innumerable legacies in her actions, her books, her kindness and caring, and her lifetime of work on behalf of women’s health. She was a splendid example of how to live life to the fullest.
Trent MacKay, MD, MPH
Acting Chief, Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch, CPR, NICHD, NIH
Former Chair, ARHP Board of Directors
Submitted on: Wed 4/19/2006 7:15 PM |
I lived in Sacramento in the 1970s. I was a young mother with no money or health insurance and my husband was a poor student. I chose Dr. Stewart's clinic from the yellow pages, and she gave me a post-natal exam. I was surprised and delighted when the office assistant told me there would be no charge for the visit.
I now work for UCSF, and am sending payment for that exam to the Fund for the Future of Reproductive Health.
Lynnette Rogers
Submitted on: Wed 4/19/2006 7:02 PM |
I did not know Felicia Stewart personally but was priviledged to hear her speak many times at the Contraceptive Technology conference. I stood in awe as she spoke about and for women and their reproductive rights. She has been a blessing and inspiration to many and I hope we will continue to follow her direction in serving the women of the world. God Bless. Thank you for being you.
Carole Lyman, RNC, ANP
Submitted on: Wed 4/19/2006 6:41 PM |
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