According to all who knew her, Barbara Stewart had passion for life, and gave her all to those things dear to her heart. She loved to travel, and crossed the globe to destinations including southeast Asia, China, Tibet and India, as well as Canada and New Zealand, which she toured by motorcycle. In her journeys throughout the U.S. and Europe, however, opera was the major focus.

She loved The Atlanta Opera and served on the company’s board as Treasurer, Vice President, and President at various times. Thanks to her professional background in economics, strategic planning, and financial analysis, she understood the company challenges, but also its strengths and its potential. She invested both her time and her gifts to ensure the Opera’s future.

The Atlanta Opera lost a tremendous friend when Barbara passed away in 2010, and the Company misses the petite, quiet woman with the warm smile entering the theatre before a performance. We miss seeing the little twinkle in her eye as she cast a sideways glance as she walked through the lobby. However, we have learned much from her steely determination to see The Opera succeed, which it has thanks in large part to Barbara’s contributions of her time, her leadership, and the examples she set for the rest of us to follow.

If you are going to succeed you must think. Don’t make decisions based on emotion; base the decision on a clear need, a plan of action, then engage the right people, follow through, evaluate the outcome and adjust the plan when necessary.

Invest your time in what educates, entertains and inspires. Opera uses the human voice and glorious orchestration to tell stories. Opera can reflect humanity at its best and sometimes at its worst. Opera can open our minds to different perspectives and ideas. Opera can make our spine tingle, make us laugh, make us feel compassion and empathy, and sometimes it makes us cry.

Give a gift that continues long after you have left this earth, and leave a planned gift in your will. Barbara did what she challenged others to do—she left a gift to The Atlanta Opera, a gift that allowed the company to survive the recession, helped grow the endowment, provided immediate financial resources for the operations of the company, and set the stage for the company’s future. This became her legacy.

We would like to thank Barbara for the woman she was, the advice and counsel she provided, and the gifts she gave to The Atlanta Opera.

The Atlanta Opera established the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society to recognize donors who have designated the Opera as a beneficiary in their estate plan. In honor of Barbara D. Stewart’s many contributions to The Atlanta Opera, our planned giving division, the Encore Society, has been renamed the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society.

Cathy Callaway Adams and Mark Adams
Mr. & *Mrs. Shepard B. Ansley
The Bickers Charitable Trust
Mrs. Wallace F. Beard
Mr. Jonathan Blalock
Mr. Montague L. Boyd, IV
Eda L. Hochgelerent MD & Bruce A. Cassidy MD
Mr. Robert Colgin
*Martha Thompson Dinos
The Roy and Janet Dorsey Foundation
Arnold and Sylvia Eaves
*Ms. Dorothy E. Edwards
*Heike and Dieter Elsner
Ms. Melodi Ford
Carl and Sally Gable
Ms. Anne Marie Gary
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney W. Guberman
Ms. Judy Hanenkrat
The Hilbert Family Trust
Mr. L. Don Holland
Mr. Hilson Hudson
*Mrs. Joseph B. Hutchison
Mrs. Gail G. Johnson
Mr. J. Carter Joseph
*Mrs. Alfred D. Kennedy, Sr
*Mrs. Isabelle W. Kennedy
Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Keough
Ms. Corina M. LaFrossia
Mr. and Mrs. John G. Malcolm
Mr. Robert L. Mays
Mr. & Mrs. Allen P. McDaniel
Peggy Weber McDowell & Jack McDowell
Mr. and Mrs. Craig N. Miller
*Miss Helen D. Moffitt
Mr. J. Robert Morring
Clara M. and John S. O’Shea
Mrs. Polly N. Pater
Mr. James Paulk
Mr. William E. Pennington
Mr. Bruce Roth
Ms. Hazel Sanger
Mr. D. Jack Sawyer, Jr.
Anita & J. Barry Schrenk
Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel
Christine and Mark St.Clare
*Ms. Barbara D. Stewart
Mr. Tarek Takieddini
Sandra and *Tom Teepen
Dr. and Mrs. Harold Whitney
*Mrs. Jane S. Willson
Rhys T. Wilson
Ms. Bunny Winter and Mr. Michael Doyle
Mr. Charles R. Yates, Jr. & Mrs. Mary Mitchell Yates
*Mr. & *Mrs. Charles R. Yates, Sr.
Mr. Tomer Zvulun and Mrs. Susanna Eiland

*deceased