After his death, controversy ensued when the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) initially refused to imprint a Wiccan pentacle on his grave, to the dismay of his widow, Roberta Stewart.

At an alternative memorial service, assisted by Selena Fox, of the Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan congregation, members of Patrick Stewart's Nevada Army National Guard unit and the Rev.

Selena Fox, senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wisconsin, is among those who pushed the federal government to adopt the emblem.

In the meantime, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed litigation on Roberta Stewart's behalf in federal court.

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 13, 2006, and in the legal action, Americans United argued that the federal government was showing favoritism toward certain religions by maintaining a list of 38 religious symbols that could be used on headstones and memorial markers.

As part of the settlement, the VA added the pentacle to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on VA-issued headstones, markers, and plaques.