Hugh Warren Stewart – 1934 – ?
A Celebration of the Life of Hugh W Stewart will be held on — at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead (or Meetinghouse of the UU Congregation of Marblehead – if he had his way! ) Hugh died as a result of 45 years of smoking, [age less 18] years, of drinking, and eating whatever he felt like most of his life. He abhorred exercise, loved Scotch, anything sweet, and women of all ages.
Hugh was born on March 9, 1934 in the thriving metropolis of Eagle, Nebraska (pop 200 at the time) – delivered by his grandfather Dr. Earl M Stewart, thus avoiding – during the depression – the cost of a hospital. He loved technology and while growing up dismantled about everything in the house to see how it worked. He followed his father into electronic engineering, stumbling through college at RPI and joining RCA (went back to RPI courtesy of RCA for a Master’s degree).
An element of greed took him to Thule AFB Greenland and Clear AFB Alaska where he installed equipment for BMEWS – the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (they paid a lot for being in those places). On to Colorado Springs then to NJ, and finally leaving RCA to join the consulting firm of D&Z in Philly, where he developed (with help) what he liked to think was world class technology for analyzing railroad financial performance. He then packed up and went to Massachusetts to start DNS Associates to exploit the rail technology. When that began to fizzle, he switched to software development, and managed to keep the company on a break even basis until it was finally sold for enough to retire.
He married a college sweetheart – Arlene Lois (Penny) Pendleton– after graduation, and dragged her to Alaska, Colorado, and New Jersey where she said enough is enough and returned to Colorado with their two children.
He met his second wife Sharon Louise Smith in Philadelphia where she was polishing her PhD dissertation, and they were an instant ‘thing’. After dating for four years she moved in with him in Marblehead, and they finally married (after 13 more years) in 1993. Cancer took Sharon from him in 2013. She was a major part of his life and it was a deep loss for him.
He spent his retirement years doing volunteer work for the Marblehead UU congregation and helping welcome international students at Salem State University into American homes – a program he called WISH (Welcome International Students to our Homes). He and Sharon traveled to Japan and China three times, as well as to Alaska twice, Costa Rica, and the American Southwest several times. And they frequented Colorado to see their grandchildren.
In his time on earth, he managed to own a third of an airplane (and learned to fly it), a Triumph sports car, a geeky Citroen, and half of a 43‘ sailboat (and used celestial navigation to go to/from Bermuda several times).
In 2016, he’s shocked everybody by moving at age 82 to Tokyo for two years of classes in Japanese language and culture. He did not learn Japanese, but nonetheless had the audacity to write a book about the grammar!
There he met a woman named Yoko. She later came to Marblehead and they married.
He is predeceased by his first wife (Penny Stewart Leonard, nee Arlene Lois Pendleton, of Chenango Bridge, NY, mother of his children) and his second wife (Sharon Louise Smith, of Hopewell, NJ), and survived by his daughter Jennifer Morris and his son Glen Stewart – both of Colorado, and four grandchildren, and his third wife Yoko, of Ota ku, Tokyo.
He said he is sorry to part with them because he loved them all.