Dorothy "Dot" Stewart

Dorothy “Dot” McAfee Stewart, a faithful servant of Jesus, passed away on September 3, 2026,at the age of 89, surrounded by her family. A source of faith, wisdom, humor, strength, and love to her family, friends, and church family, Dot’s greatest devotion was to her family. She took tremendous joy in seeing it grow through children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Dot was born Dorothy McAfee on October 12, 1936, in Iraan, Texas, west of the Pecos River, to Charles Towers “C.T.” McAfee and Addie Lee Minnick McAfee. She grew up on a farm near Gordon, Texas, where the faith and servant’s heart that would shape the rest of her life began to take root.

In the seventh grade, Dot prayed a prayer she would not remember again until many years later: “I prayed that God would use me to be a missionary, to go to Africa or anywhere. And I didn’t remember that prayer until I was in Brazil.”

Dot attended Abilene Christian College, where she majored in History and graduated magna cum laude. She was active in student government and was elected Sophomore Favorite. It was through student government that she met Teddy Travis “Ted” Stewart, a fellow student who had given up a full Naval Scholarship in Engineering at the University of Colorado to attend ACC and prepare for ministry.

Dot and Ted married on May 28, 1957, beginning a marriage and ministry partnership that would span nearly 55 years. In June 1961, Dot and Ted, with their young sons Kevin and Brent, boarded the S.S. Del Norte and sailed from Houston for Brazil as part of the historic São Paulo Mission Team. The original group—26 adults and 18 children—was made up of 13 young missionary couples and their families. Other members of the São Paulo Mission Team followed them to Brazil, becoming an integral part of its close-knit missionary family and ministry. Alongside them grew a generation of missionary children whose childhoods, friendships, and faith were forever shaped by their years together in Brazil and by the faith and example of their parents.

Dot and Ted served in São Paulo for 13 years, from 1961 to 1974. During those years, Dot was far more than a “missionary’s wife.” She taught women’s Bible classes in Portuguese, worked among families in the favelas of São Paulo, helped establish congregations, encouraged and mentored Brazilian Christians, and shared her faith through the relationships she formed.

From 1969 to 1974, Dot served as editor of Mulher Cristã (“Christian Woman”), an influential Christian women’s publication in Brazil.

The Stewart family grew during their years in Brazil with the births of their daughters Cherie, born in the United States during a return trip home, and Trina, born in São Paulo. Dot and Ted raised four children: Kevin, Brent, Cherie, and Trina who grew up surrounded by the faith, friendships, language, and culture that became such an important part of their family’s story. She took tremendous joy in knowing and loving her children, and in seeing the faith that shaped her own life carried forward into new generations.

After 13 years in Brazil, Dot and Ted returned to the United States in 1974, where Dot taught Portuguese at Abilene Christian University from 1974 to 1976. During those years, Ted served as pulpit minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ and taught Bible courses at ACU.

In 1976, Dot was named “Christian Woman of the Year” by Twentieth Century Christian, a widely read Church of Christ publication under the longtime editorship of M. Norvel Young.

That same year, Dot and Ted moved to Lubbock, Texas, where Ted joined the faculty of the Sunset School of Preaching, later Sunset International Bible Institute. For twenty-eight years, Dot taught the wives of preacher-training students, including the course “Dynamics of the Christian Woman.” Through those years of teaching and mentoring, she helped prepare generations of Christian women for lives of ministry alongside their husbands and within their own homes, congregations, and communities.

Dot and Ted founded Sunset Bookstore in 1978, which they regarded not simply as a business but as a ministry to churches. Their goal was to make Bibles, books, and religious materials available at substantial discounts to Sunset students and congregations throughout the United States and around the world. Dot managed the bookstore for thirty years with remarkable energy, business ability, generosity, and personal care for the students, ministers, missionaries, and churches they served, largely through their extensive mail-order ministry.

Dot’s partnership with Ted extended into his many years of biblical and historical research. In 1991, the two traveled to Egypt as part of Ted’s research for Solving the Exodus Mystery: Discovery of the True Pharaohs of Joseph, Moses, and the Exodus, published in 2002 after twenty-four years of research and writing. Ted died on February 22, 2012, after nearly 55 years of marriage.

At the sixty-year reunion of the São Paulo Mission Team, Dot had the opportunity to gather again with surviving members of the group whose lives had become intertwined so many decades before. Looking back at what began with a group of young Christians, filled with faith and willing to follow God across an ocean, Dot said: “We were all naive and inexperienced, but to think of what God did with us, with our little team ... it grew, and today it is wonderful.”

To those who loved her, Dot was faithful, kind, true, and upright, a best friend, a wise counselor, and a wonderful listener, deeply devoted to the people she loved. She lived her whole life loving and serving Jesus Christ by loving and serving others, and the faith that shaped her life remained steadfast to the end. We will miss her more than words can express, and yet we grieve with the hope that comes from that same faith, looking forward to the glorious day when we will see her face to face once again.

Family

Dot was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Teddy “Ted” Travis Stewart; her parents, Charles Towers and Addie Lee Minnick McAfee; her brother, Charles Lee McAfee; her sister-in-law, Nyla Stewart; her son-in-law, Jeff Muehring; and her nephew-in-law, Martin Dukler.

Continuing the race set before them are Dot’s beloved family:

Her son Kevin Stewart and his wife, Monica; Ethan Stewart; Ashley Griffith and husband Ben; and Allyson Rael and husband Zach, and their children Theo and Luca.

Her son Brent Stewart and his wife, Patti; Stephen Stewart and wife Vanessa, and their children Tobin and Kirsten; Chase Stewart; and Nikki Richburg and husband Chris, and their children Blakely, Beckham, and Brooklyn.

Her daughter Cherie Stewart Sherwood and husband Ron; Jeremiah Sherwood; Joshua Sherwood and Mikayla; Joseph Sherwood and wife Evelyn, and their children Josie, Joslynn, Mylee, Radley, and Dalana; and Jacob Sherwood and wife Michelle, and their children Jarren, Jensen, and Jaleb.

Her daughter Trina Stewart Muehring and *Jeff; and Jasper Muehring.

Also among Dot’s beloved family are:

Her brother Thomas McAfee and wife Kay; Jason McAfee and wife Michele, and their son James; Andy McAfee and wife Amanda, and their children Caroline and Jack; and Dusty McAfee and wife Kaley, and their children Keaton and Dane Rose.

Bob Stewart and wife Patsy; Dianne Stewart and Helen; and Steve Stewart and wife Ann, and their children Wyatt and Lily.

Don Stewart and wife Lynda; Shelby Stewart and wife Kristina, and their children Cohen, Cooper, and Beth; Jeremy Stewart and wife Ashley, and their children Ainsley, Addie, and Brogan;

Douglas Stewart and Kaitlyn.

1961 São Paulo Mission Team

* Those who have gone before us and joined the great cloud of witnesses.

Jerry and Barbara Campbell; *Allen Dutton Sr. and *Maria Dutton; *Jarrell and *Nancy Edwards; *Jack and *Nancy Hill; Lynn and *Phyllis Huff; Robert and *Jackie Humphries; *Walter and *Mary Nelle Kreidel; *Ellis and *Doris Long; *Glenn and *Eldina Looper; David and *Carolyn Mickey; *Howard and *Jane Norton; *Glenn and Marlene Owen; John and *Catherine Pennisi; *Ted and *Dot Stewart; *Leon and *Marion Tester; Gaither and Lavern Vanderveer; and *Don and Carol Vinzant.

Children of the São Paulo Mission Team

Benecia, Lyle, Kerry, and Keith Campbell; Allen Dutton Jr., Cynthia Alexander, and Priscilla Purgato; Jana Emerson; Kathy, Larry, and Gary Hill; Denise McEwen, *Richard, and Andreia Dippon; Kyle and Kirk Humphries; Angela West, *Keith, Karen Clark, and Chris Kreidel; Kent, Beth Ogden, and Southern Long; *Camille Rhoads, Cathy Ballew, Cindy Schoonmaker, and Michelle Mickey; Laurie Diles, Tom, and Ted Norton; Randy, Glenn, and Marla Alcorn Owen; Regina Walker, Lisa Sizemore, and Laurie Wetzstein Pennisi; Kevin, Brent, Cherie Sherwood, and Trina Muehring Stewart; Claude and Jon Tester; LaGay Pittenger, Lynn, Greg, and Gena Vanderveer; and Larry, Gene, Danny, and Caroline John Vinzant.

Visitation and Funeral

Monday, September 14 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

The family will receive friends for visitation at Combest Funeral Home in Lubbock, Texas.

Tuesday, September 15 | 10:00 a.m.

A celebration of Dot’s life will be held at Sunset Church of Christ in Lubbock.

The service will be live-streamed on YouTube for family and friends who are unable to attend. A link will be provided when available.

Memorials

For those wishing to honor Dot’s life through a memorial gift, the family suggests:

https://www.sunset.bible/give-now

Supporting the training of ministers and missionaries for service throughout the world.

https://greatcities.org/sao-paulo-endowment/

Continuing the work of Christian ministry in Brazil that was such an important part of Dot’s life.