On October 31, present and former students from as far back as 1997 gathered to celebrate the 80th birthday of their music teacher, Jessica Stewart.

Jessica and her husband, the late Rev. James Williamson, moved to Columbus in 1996, where she opened her private studio for violin, cello and piano instruction.

Jessica Eleanor Stewart was born in Irvington, N.J., on November 1, 1930. When the Great Depression came, Jessicas father abandoned her and her mother, Mary. Her mother took Stewart, only 14 months old, to live at The Maridor, a home for children, where she would be provided for during those difficult years. The home had been established by Lila Grace ORourke, affectionately known as Auntie.

Stewart lived at The Maridor until she was nine years old, when the home closed down. She was provided with a full years scholarship to attend the St. Johns Anglican Boarding School in Mendhan, N.J., the next year and after that she was able to move home again to live with her mother. Stewart graduated from the Nutley High School in Nutley, N.J.

Stewarts interest in music started early. At Maridor the Dempsey children could afford music lessons. Buddy Dempsey let Stewart play his violin and she would happily practice tunes and bowing. The home also had a piano that she enjoyed playing.

When she attended St. Johns she would watch the other children and copy what they had learned. Music wasnt allowed in the apartment where she and her mother lived but by that time it was apparent that Stewart had talent and motivation to learn.

Auntie was the person who got Stewart her first violin. She hadnt started lessons yet but she could listen to the radio. Stewart listened to hours of classical music on WOR in New York and then played the songs on her violin.

Her Auntie insisted that Stewart take lessons and provided them for her. Stewart walked two miles to the Grace Episcopal Church in Nutley so she could have a place to practice without disturbing anyone.

Her senior year in high school, at the age of 16, Stewart found herself walking across the stage of Carnegie Hall preparing to audition for the Tanglewood Scholarship. She spent the next two summers performing at Tanglewood under the conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Stewart graduated from Mont Clair University with double degrees in violin and piano performance and education.

After years of teaching and performance in Massachusetts and Florida, she moved to North Carolina and began teaching again.

At the recent birthday celebration, Stewart’s students thanked her for her commitment to them.

“We can never show you what the selfless giving of your time and talent has meant to each and every one of us,” one student told her.