As the Rochester community mourned the loss of civil rights activist and faith leader Rev. Lewis Stewart on Saturday, they also celebrated the legacy he leaves behind.

“I think what you’re seeing [is] people coming in and out, community leaders, is recognition and evidence of all the great impacts that he’s had on this community," said Rep. Joe Morelle, of New York’s 25th congressional district. "I think people want to be here to offer their condolences and pay their respects to a great man."

More than just a man of faith, Rev. Stewart was also a man of change. He spent over six decades fighting for social justice, attended the March on Washington in 1963 and got inspiration from high-profile Black leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.

“I’ve came to the point where I’ve given this my best," Stewart said in 2022. "I’m tired. It stresses you out. And you need to transition to go on to other things. Not that I’m going to forget who I am."

He has left behind a legacy that will not be forgotten.

“Rev. Stewart, retroactively speaking, had been involved in civil rights as a liberator," said Rev. Dwight Fowler, Pastor for the First Church of God. "I would have to say a drum major for justice."

“He was a man of justice, a man who cared about his fellow human beings and strove for justice in our community,” Morelle said.

As a chaplain at the New York State Department of Corrections, he served as pastor to inmates and advocated for prison reform. He then went on to co-found the United Christian Leadership Ministry in 2013 where he continued the fight against injustice and strengthened the voices of Black and brown communities.

“We’ve gotten things done," Stewart said in 2022. "Thats the issue, we’ve gotten things done that nobody else could get done."

And the community will keep his legacy alive by continuing that work.

“Our goal and vision if you will is the pursuit of the beloved community as a drum major for justice and we endeavor to find the need and meet it to help broken people become a whole people,” Fowler said.

It's something Stewart would be proud of.

“I have this community and wider Monroe community and New York community in my heart and in my prayers because I do want to see things better for all people,” Stewart said in 2022.