Former Student Loses Life While Stationed in Iraq
Diana Petras
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Obituaries
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"It's been really hard," said Ward. "We were really close. I told her before she left for Iraq that we were supposed to get together on her return and that didn't seem to work out."
"Out of all the people I lost, ending with Carla, I never expected her to not to come back," she said. "She wasn't in combat. That was not even a thought to me that she would not be returning."
Her mother is still distraught about Stewart's passing. She said, "I feel horrible. I lost my daughter and my best friend. We shared everything - our joy and our pain... It has been a great lost for me."
Stewart earned several medals and stars because she was always rescuing someone or something.
According to Ward, there was always laughter surrounding Carla because there was always someone laughing. "Even the troops that she was with in Iraq," she said. "I'd read a lot of stuff that they've written about her and it was always positive."
They would talk about how they would come back from a mission and how she would come up to them when she would see them down. Even if she was exhausted, she would go talk to them and make them feel better. "That was the kind of person she was," she said.
"I don't know anyone who has anything negative to say about Carla," said Ward. "The only negative thing people could say about her is being short. The troops that she served with called her Stuart Little, but that never affected her because everything was pretty much a joke."
The GCC dance department hopes to be holding a memorial service in Stewart's honor next month with current dance department members performing in Stewart's honor. "They [the students] don't know her," said Ward. "But they're doing the memorial for me and her mom will be there."
She is survived by her mother, her father, Edmond Babayan, and her brother, Richard Babayan, and her estranged husband, Brandon Stewart. "I've truly been blessed to have been friends with her," Ward said. "I can say that she's very missed all around."
"Out of all the people I lost, ending with Carla, I never expected her to not to come back," she said. "She wasn't in combat. That was not even a thought to me that she would not be returning."
Her mother is still distraught about Stewart's passing. She said, "I feel horrible. I lost my daughter and my best friend. We shared everything - our joy and our pain... It has been a great lost for me."
Stewart earned several medals and stars because she was always rescuing someone or something.
According to Ward, there was always laughter surrounding Carla because there was always someone laughing. "Even the troops that she was with in Iraq," she said. "I'd read a lot of stuff that they've written about her and it was always positive."
They would talk about how they would come back from a mission and how she would come up to them when she would see them down. Even if she was exhausted, she would go talk to them and make them feel better. "That was the kind of person she was," she said.
"I don't know anyone who has anything negative to say about Carla," said Ward. "The only negative thing people could say about her is being short. The troops that she served with called her Stuart Little, but that never affected her because everything was pretty much a joke."
The GCC dance department hopes to be holding a memorial service in Stewart's honor next month with current dance department members performing in Stewart's honor. "They [the students] don't know her," said Ward. "But they're doing the memorial for me and her mom will be there."
She is survived by her mother, her father, Edmond Babayan, and her brother, Richard Babayan, and her estranged husband, Brandon Stewart. "I've truly been blessed to have been friends with her," Ward said. "I can say that she's very missed all around."
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