Robert Joseph Stewart

HYANNIS — Robert Joseph Stewart, of Hyannis, died peacefully on the Fourth of July, 2010.

Mr. Stewart was born to Samuel and Frances Stewart in Clayton, N.J., but spent a large part of his life in Wenonah, N.J., before moving to Washington, N.C., and spending three years at the Fountains in Tarboro, N.C., before finally returning to the Yankee culture of Hyannis in the summer of 2008.

He was preceded in death by two wives, Barbara Brown Stewart in 1992 and Mary Brown Stewart in 2000; as well as a sister, Dorothy Stewart Schwab in 1995.

He is survived by two sons, Sam of Oviedo, Fla., and Jim of Hyannis; a brother, Sam Stewart of Pitman, N.J.; a sister, Jane Moore of Woodstown, N.J.; and two grandchildren, Adam Stewart of Columbus, Ohio, and Samantha Stewart of Orlando, Fla.

Mr. Stewart served in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War, flying missions from England into France and Germany. He enlisted in 1942, was commissioned as a pilot in 1943, and was promoted to captain in 1944 while serving as a B-17 bomb group leader in the Eighth Air Force. He flew 30 missions as captain and pilot of his bomb crew, with his first mission coming the morning of June 6, 1944.

Mr. Stewart left the service at the end of the war and went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for his college education, earning a degree in chemical engineering. Upon graduation, he worked as a chemical engineer for DuPont and Campbell Soup, before going into management consulting with Rohm and Haas Corp. in Philadelphia.

Upon his retirement in 1979, Mr. Stewart took up a part-time teaching position at Valley Forge Military Academy. Both his sons were going into teaching and he thought he would enjoy the challenge of being in front of a group of young students.

Even in his final years, Mr. Stewart came into Sturgis Charter Public School in Hyannis and gave guest lectures on World War II to the history classes at Sturgis. While his license plate bore the Distinguished Flying Cross, he proudly placed a bumper sticker above it espousing a Quaker philosophy he believed for 65 years: "War is not the answer."

Mr. Stewart was active in the community, serving on the school board in Wenonah in the 1960s, but was also well known for the letters he would write to newspapers such as the Woodbury Daily Times, the Raleigh News and Observer, and the Cape Cod Times.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

In place of flowers, please make contributions to Father Michael Doyle, Sacred Heart Church, 1739 Ferry Ave., Camden, NJ 08104; http://sacredheartcamden.org.

Mr. Stewart supported the work of Father Doyle and sponsored numerous underprivileged children through the church. Peace!