Alexander “Bud” Stewart Jr. died peacefully on Monday, May 30, 2016, in Bradenton, Fla.
Bud was born in Bridgeport, Conn., on July 20, 1923, the son of Alexander and Margaret Stewart, who immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland in 1917. He grew up in Springdale, Conn., and attended Stamford High School, graduating in 1941. Bud was a veteran of WW II, serving in the US., Europe, Africa, and South America as an aircraft mechanic. Following the war, Bud joined Pitney Bowes, and met the love of his life, Betty Calhoun, at a company Christmas party. They were married on May 28, 1949. Bud and Betty had just recently celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary.
Bud and Betty raised their family in Stamford, Conn., where Bud was very active as a troop leader in the Boy Scouts. An avid outdoorsman, he loved times spent with his four children and extended family on Candlewood Lake, boating and fishing. When he retired from Pitney Bowes in 1985, Bud and Betty built a house on Martha’s Vineyard.
After visiting close family friends in Florida for several winters, they also bought a place in Bradenton, Fla. Bud and Betty had a wonderful group of friends from Stamford and Florida, many of whom they traveled with extensively. Their summers on the Vineyard, however, were centered around family. All of their children and grandchildren would visit them on the Island, where they enjoyed beach days, cookouts, and large family dinners.
Bud was a consummate family man, a kind and gentle father, grandfather and great-grandfather, who loved to share his talents, his time, and mostly, his stories. He had a quick wit, a hearty laugh, and was proud of his Scottish heritage, often breaking out into a perfect brogue. He enjoyed fishing and golf, and especially the challenge and camaraderie of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby every fall. He loved good food (especially Betty’s cooking) and conversation, always ready with a joke or a kind word for everyone he came across. Not a person Bud ever met, even up to his last day, will forget his class and wit and his genuine joie de vivre. And boy, could he spin a tale!
Bud leaves his wife, Betty, and his four children, Bruce Stewart and his wife Lisa of Oak Bluffs; Heather Barnett and her husband Rick of Austin, Texas; Gordon Stewart and his wife Stephanie of Farmington, Conn.; and Diana Stewart of Vineyard Haven and Bradenton, Fla. He leaves seven grandchildren, William and Katherine Stewart of Oak Bluffs; Hilary Maymon of Grass Valley, Calif.; Jaquelyn Bridenbaugh and Kimberly Barnett of Austin, Texas; and Alec and Ian Stewart of Farmington. He also leaves five great-grandchildren. A memorial service is planned this fall in Florida after many of his fellow snowbirds return to the state.
