Obituary of Henry Steward

Brother, Husband Father and Friend, Henry Steward was born one of 3 children to Cleburne and Susie Steward on May 21, 1949 at Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, CA. Growing up, Henry's mother Susie, who helped to found First Missionary Baptist, instilled a very strong religious foundation. And it was this foundation that would mold many of Henry's experiences throughout his life. Henry went to school in Banning California were he played some sports throughout his high school days. After graduating from Banning High School he went on to study Photography (which he loved) at Mt. San Jacinto College in Hemet. Henry, like others in his family, was blessed with a beautiful voice. He played the trumpet, harmonica, drums, guitar and piano. Which a lot of people never heard him play. In the day, Henry was by any standard an OG. With his trademark eyes, long "good hair" and taste for nice clothes he was commonly known as Dangerous Red. As a young man he could be seen driving a black Continental with suicide doors. But later in life Henry owned a black special edition Firebird that was his pride and joy. In his younger days Henry worked for the County of Riverside, and did some carpentry work, but always wished to pursue his love of photography. He lived in an abundance of locations including Haight-ashbury around the Frisco area, Pomona, Windy Point in Palm Springs, and for a short time Portland, Oregon. However, he chose his hometown of Banning to settle and raise his family with wife Marilyn. Henry always enjoyed building and riding motorcycles. He played in several bands with his brother George, friends Cornie, Tom Harrell, Otis Pellum and the Williams brothers of Banning. And as a young man he belonged to the well known local band called the Victors that even recorded records that Dick Clark played on Bandstand. They also played on Hullabaloo in the late 60's where they shared appearances with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp of I Spy! Only few know that Henry actually stopped singing in the secular band because of his love for Gospel. Lastly, Henry was an excellent fisherman and had been known to catch fish when there were none in the water. Henry is predeceased in death by his Mother Susie and Father Cleburne, Sister Cordelia and Daughter Joy'ua. He leaves his wife Marilyn, children Labrea, Shayona, Jabar, Precious and Azia and son in law Tae, a brother and sister-in-law. Henry had 9 nieces and nephews. 13 grand nieces and nephews and on great grand niece born only 3 weeks ago.