Edna Stewart owned Edna’s restaurant at 3715 W. Madison. Stewart died after a battle with cancer. The fate of the West Side restaurant is in the air as members of her family contemplate how to carry the business on. Defender/Worsom Robinson
Edna Stewart, 72, founder of the Edna’s restaurant, 3715 W. Madison St., died Friday from cancer, according to her sister, Alice McCommon.
She will be laid to rest Saturday following funeral services at United Church, 4220 W. Roosevelt Road. The wake begins at 9 a.m. followed by the funeral.
Few would argue that Stewart served up some of the best soul food at her West Side restaurant. But it remains to be seen the fate of Edna’s, following Stewart’s death.
The 44-year-old soul food restaurant may end up closing this year since there are no immediate family members able to assume the restaurant’s daily management, the family said.
“It’s questionable if the restaurant will remain open because there is no one who can run the business,” McCommon, 74, explained. “My health is not good and my brother and other sister have health issues as well. Her (Edna’s) son has health issues and her daughter, who was at her bedside when she passed, lives in West Virginia.”
Since 1966 Stewart had been serving up her hot buttered biscuits and a variety of soul food selections, which earned her a national reputation as a cooking perfectionist, McCommon said. A who’s who list of people has visited Edna’s for a bite. They include the civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson. Edna’s history includes surviving the 1968 riots in Chicago when race relations where shattered after King’s assassination.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-1st Dist., was also among her longtime customers.
“Edna Stewart nourished and fed The Movement and I was one of the countless young people in the 1960s who flocked to her restaurant for down home cooking, wonderful fellowship and sage advice,” Rush said in a statement giving condolences following Stewart’s death. “Few people understand how small business owners, like Edna Stewart, were the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement. She was a mother and friend to so many-and I will miss her down home cooking and her wonderful spirit. This Chicago legend has left a tremendous void on the West Side.”
Stewart was more than a notable cook, she was also an employer who provided job opportunities to the community, including to ex-convicts who often had difficulty finding employment.
“She helped everybody. You won’t find a sweeter person than my sister,” McCommon said. “If you do, let me know so I can meet this person.”
On Feb. 19 Gov. Pat Quinn recognized Stewart for a lifelong contributions to Illinois and declared that day Edna Stewart Day.
“Black History Month gives us a time to reflect upon those who have made significant, positive contributions to the African American community in Illinois,” Quinn said in February. “I want to commend Edna Stewart for her remarkable impact on Illinois, devoting over four decades to serving delicious soul food and second chances on the West Side of Chicago.”
Stewart’s family said it was rare to find the culinary entrepreneur anywhere but at the restaurant. “She would get up at 6 a.m. and start working. She worked every position from cooking to cashier and had a hard time saying no to people in need,” McCommon said.
Stewart was a member of Union Hill M.B. Church on the West Side and served as a mother figure to anyone who came in contact with her, including her big sister.
“Even though I am older she was more mature and possessed the same motherly qualities as our mom,” McCommon recalled about her sister.
Stewarts’ parents preceded her in death. She is survived by two sisters, one brother, one son, one daughter and two grandchildren.
Stewart’s body will lie in state at A.A. Rayner funeral home, 5911 W. Madison, Thursday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender.
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