Bruce Maddox Stewart (1927 - 2014)

Born 28 Aug 1927 in Hebron, McHenry, Illinois, United States of America

Ancestors

Died 8 Jan 2014 at age 86 in Surprise, Maricopa, Arizona, United States of America

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joan Stewart Smith [send private message]

Biography

Bruce Stewart is a member of Clan Stewart.

Bruce Maddox Stewart was born on 28 August 1927 in Hebron, McHenry, Illinois, United States.^[1] He was the youngest of the six children of Robert Wright Stewart II and his wife Celia Elizabeth "Beth" Fellows. He spent his childhood on the Hebron prairie, on part of the farm that his pioneer great grandfather, Robert Wright Stewart I, had homesteaded in the 1830s.

Bruce's birth took everyone by surprise, arriving 10 years after the birth of his sister before him. He didn't get any special treatment as the youngest. As soon as he was able, his father put the little farm boy to work on the dairy farm. His big brother, John, lifted Bruce, aged 6, onto the seat of the tractor and taught him to navigate up and down the field.

"Mother and Dad were not overjoyed to see another child at that time, just when the economic climate of the country was sliding into the Great Depression," said Bruce. "There would be a terrible drought in 1934, followed by snowfall in 1935-36 that had drifts up to 12 feet in the roads."

His warmest memory of his childhood was his beloved dog named Speeder, a friendship that lasted 14 years. "Speeder was my guide, my guardian, my protector, my rescuer, and most of all, my friend," said Bruce. "Everywhere I went, except school, he went. If I climbed a tree, he would attempt it – and sometimes made it! Best of all, we roamed the fields and woods together for hours."^[2]

Taking flight
Another memory shines bright. At age five, Bruce had his first airplane ride, after his sister's friend abruptly landed a plane in the field on the farm in 1932. "There is an old photo of an enraptured little me, sitting on the plane's wheel, wearing the pilot's aviator cap and goggles," wrote Bruce. "This event, literally out of the blue, changed me forever."

As soon as Bruce legally could, he took flying lessons at Walworth Airport, over the state border in Wisconsin. After he graduated from Hebron High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force on 19 Aug 1946, nine days before he turned 19.^[3] He joined shortly before World War II ended, so he never saw action. After 8 years of active service in the Air Force, he later entered the Air Force Reserve.

Bruce married Mary Kay Bergin, the daughter of William T. Bergin and Cecile K. Morris, on 26 Mar 1951 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Richmond, McHenry, Illinois.^[4] They had been classmates at Hebron High. To marry her, he transitioned from his parents' Presbyterian faith to Catholicism. Later in life, he changed his beliefs to agnostic and became a strong pacifist.

For several years, he ran what had been his father's 169-acre dairy farm, maintaining 75 head of livestock. He and Mary Kay began a large family that would grow to nine children. For health reasons, he left farming and moved his young family to Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago. With the aid of the G.I. Bill, he received his bachelor's degree in organic chemistry in 1960.

Love and work
Bruce's resume includes Nalco Chemical Company in Naperville, Illinois; Visco, a division of Nalco, in Anaheim, California, and Pierce Chemical Company, in Rockford, Illinois. Bruce and Mary Kay raised their nine children in both southern California and northern Illinois, moving 2,000 miles to California twice.

After years in organic chemistry, he began an electrical contracting business called OK Electric in Anaheim, California. After that, the family moved from Anaheim, California, to Norco, California, and then to Riverside, California, where he sold real estate and became a County Building Inspector. One by one, his children were growing up, moving out and most beginning families of their own.

His farm boy proficiency and work ethic served him well over the years. He had a talent for fixing most anything that broke. He loved music, reading, carpentry, photography and especially genealogy, where he made major inroads researching his Stewart line and participating in Stewart DNA studies. He wrote a book about his Stewart ancestors called "Stewart: Heather Lost" (published 2009).^[5]

In 1993, Bruce, Mary Kay and their eldest daughter Joan traveled to the British Isles. The trip included research in Foss, Perthshire, Scotland, where his Stewarts had lived, and a visit to the annual meeting of The Stewart Society. They also visited cousins in Ireland, the land of his wife's ancestors. England was also on the itinerary, as his mother's line goes back to Colonial America in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and across the Atlantic to England and Wales.

Final chapter
In 1998, Bruce and Mary Kay moved to Surprise, Maricopa, Arizona to retire. They then began a wonderful chapter in their lives, traveling across the country in their RV. Year after year, they left Arizona during its sweltering summer months to visit friends and relatives all over the United States.

It was also an excellent season of life for genealogy research. Bruce spent many hours in county courthouses, visiting graveyards, and locating the exact spot of the original homestead in Johnstown, New York, where his Stewart ancestors first settled. The PBS TV show, Ancestry, featured Bruce in the Probate episode, charting his course in discovering the will of his immigrant 3rd great grandfather, Robert Stewart, which listed all 12 of his children. It was a gold mine of information, confirming his research. Also included in each episode were photos he collected of his ancestors.

Bruce, aged 86, passed away 8 Jan 2014 in Surprise, Maricopa, Arizona, United States,^[6] and at his request donated his body to science. His ashes were buried in South Hebron Cemetery, in the historic family cemetery he so loved, down the road from his childhood farm.^[7]

- Biography by Bruce Maddox Stewart's daughter, Joan Stewart Smith

Marriage

Bruce Maddox Stewart married Mary Kay Bergin on 26 Mar 1951 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Richmond, McHenry, Illinois, United States^[4]

Children

Bruce Maddox Stewart and his wife Mary Kay Bergin had nine children.

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Census

1830

Hebron, McHenry, Illinois, United States. ^[8]

1840

Hebron, McHenry, Illinois, United States. ^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ State of Illinois Certificate of Birth, Bruce Maddox Stewart, 28 Aug 1927, Hebron, McHenry County, Illinois
2. ↑ Stewart, Bruce. My Puppy! 1929; A Boy & A Dog on a Farm in Illinois, 2003
3. ↑ Military Service. "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMXP-BDC : 5 December 2014), Bruce M Stewart, enlisted 19 Aug 1946, Chanute Field, Illinois, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 126323, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Bruce Maddox Stewart of Hebron, Illinois and Mary Kathryn Bergin of Hebron, Illinois, married 26 Mar 1951 at St. Joseph Church, Richmond, McHenry, Illinois, wt. Elayne Bergin, George E. Walworth, Rev. Frank J. Miller, pastor, records of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Richmond, McHenry, Illinois
5. ↑ Stewart, Bruce Maddox. Stewart: Heather Lost, The Story of a Family Displaced. 2009 (http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/stoz/stewart_heather.htm)
6. ↑ State of Arizona Certificate of Death, Bruce Maddox Stewart, 8 Jan 2014, Surprise, Maricopa, Arizona, United States
7. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #178956095
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSBR-R1T : accessed 19 March 2022), Bruce Stewart in household of Robert W Stewart, Hebron, McHenry, Illinois, United States
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWRZ-GN3 : 8 January 2021), Bruce M Stewart in household of Robert W Stewart, Hebron Township, McHenry, Illinois, United States