David Wood Stewart

David Wood Stewart [95] died on October 28, 2025, at Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community, Asheville, N.C. A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, he was born on December 12, 1929, the son of S. Glenn and Esther Wood Stewart. In 1952-53, he served as an enlisted man in the 25th Infantry Division during the Korean War.
Dr. Stewart held a B.A. in History from The College of Wooster, an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Wisconsin. In his earlier career, he held various administrative positions at University of Wisconsin-Extension and the University of Wisconsin System Administration, Office of Academic Affairs. He later joined the staff of the American Council on Education's Center for Adult Learning and Educational Credentials in Washington, D.C. as Director of Program Development. He also served as an adjunct faculty member in graduate programs at The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.
Dr. Stewart was the author of a biography of the adult education philosopher Eduard C. Lindeman that won two national awards. He was the author or co-author of three other books and numerous journal articles on education topics. In 1996 he was elected to membership in the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.
He was an avid hiker, but his passion was canoeing, fishing, and camping in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area. On these trips he was often accompanied by his son, Mark, with whom he shared a love for the wilderness and natural areas. Later, it gave him great pleasure to see that his two granddaughters also became Boundary Waters aficionados. He was active in starting, belonging to, and supporting environmental groups wherever he lived.
David and his wife, Billie Stewart, retired to Asheville where he found great joy in a variety of civic and recreational activities. A particular interest was UNC-Asheville's North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement (now the Osher Lifelong Learning Center) where he taught classes in history and biography and served a term as Chair of that organization's Steering Council. He also loved taking classes at the Center and was a book collector. He was a bi-weekly local columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times in 2005-2006 and wrote a number of guest editorials in the paper in more recent years. He loved all aspects of being a grandfather, most especially writing and illustrating books for and sometimes with his grandchildren. David Stewart is survived by his wife and by two children from his first marriage to Mary Lynette Irwin: Miriam Stewart (husband Eric Rosenberg) of Arlington, Massachusetts; Mark Irwin Stewart (wife Ann) of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, and two granddaughters, Laura Bradley (husband Brian),and Mara Stewart (husband, Jeremy Lange), and by great grandson David Bradley and great granddaughter Julia Lange, all of the Madison, Wisconsin, area.
He is also survived by two stepchildren: Terri Sue Ackerman of Carboro, North Carolina, and Stephen Paul Ackerman (wife Sue Pegrume) and by two step grandsons, Jade and Jonah Ackerman of Ashhurst, New Zealand.
David was preceded in death by his sister, Nancy Pobst, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and her husband, Dick.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of David Wood Stewart, please visit our floral store.