Violet "Sue" Gaddis

As a child, her family moved from Oklahoma to California. It was there that Sue met Bob Stewart who was stationed in the Navy in Northern CA. At the age of 14, she married Bob, and they had 2 children. They moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1962. Once in Phoenix, Sue and her husband saw a need to help the youth in the area. They contacted Teen Challenge in New York and its founder Rev. David Wilkerson. In 1965, Teen Challenge of Arizona was started. Sue received numerous awards and recognition for her work with young women and she ran the Arizona chapter with her husband until their divorce in 1967. Sue remained an integral part of that ministry for the rest of her life.

Sue was introduced to Bill Gaddis by a mutual friend in their church. Her son had also been a friend of Bill’s nephew while in grade school. Sue and Bill were married shortly thereafter. Bill was an electrician out of the Union in Flagstaff, Arizona and for the next 10 years the family moved to various cities in Northern AZ, all the while being very active in various churches. When Bill retired, they returned to the Phoenix area.

Later in life after Bill’s passing in 1992, Sue and her friend Barbara started the Cabrini House for women. Throughout her life she had also been a seamstress and, utilizing space inside the Cabrini House, Sue began making Clerical garments through her own business called “A Heavenly Stitch”. Her beautiful pieces were sent all over the world. When the Cabrini House closed in 2015, she retired from her seamstress business as well.

Sue’s life was dedicated to ministry and serving others and she was the proud matriarch of a huge family that included 9 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.

Sue is survived by her sisters Jeanie (Alan) Prutt and Linda Winter and her brother Danny Ruth; Her children Terry (Penny) Stewart, Deborah (Tracy) Kovach, and Andrea Gaddis; Her 9 grandchildren Shalynn (AJ), Audrey, Derrick, Nashira (Tom), Sunda (Scott), Shavawn, Stephanie (Jaime), Jesse, and Chris; Her 11 great-grandchildren David, Jayson, Elizabeth, Alexis, Aryanna, Paxton, Angelina, Zeb, Orion, Zion and Ben; And her 2 great-great grandchildren Zaedyn and Zeekial.

A Celebration of Life for Sue will be held on Saturday April 20, 2024 at 11:00am at Teen Challenge Christian Life Ranch, 47819 N Fig Springs Road, New River, Arizona 85087.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to Teen Challenge: https://tcaz.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/