He was the eldest son of the late Robert Henry Stewart and Catherine (Ryder) Stewart and was a direct descendant of William Bradford, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony.

Mr. Stewart attended local schools, from the one-room elementary school near Hall’s Corner, to Duxbury High School, from which he graduated in the early 1930s. 

A World War II veteran, he served in the U.S. Army for three-and-a-half years, mostly in the Pacific theatre.

For nearly 50 years he and his younger brother, Vernon Wadsworth Stewart operated ìThe Stewarts,î a welding and repair business on Bay Ridge Lane, next to the now 240-year-old ancestral residence where they grew up.  The younger Mr. Stewart died in 1998.

Robert Stewart was always a friendly, ìgentle manî in every sense of the expression.  He loved people and delighted in helping others of all ages, including children who brought their toys to be fixed.

ìBob,î as he was widely known, took special pride in his vegetable garden, the fruits of which he shared generously with friends, neighbors, and passers-by.

Bob was always interested in the events of the world, of the state, and particularly of Duxbury.  He, like his brother, read several newspapers and magazines regularly, but generally kept his political leanings to himself.

He leaves his younger sister, Mary Alerton Stewart, a retired librarian, who has lived for many years in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

A funeral service was held in Kingston at the Shepherd Funeral Home on July 11, followed by burial in the family plot at Mayflower Cemetery.