Daniel Pride Stewart

VIEW VIDEO TRIBUTE                          Daniel Pride Stewart passed away on July 30, 2018. He was born on January 21, 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee to Rufus Olred and Gladys Conyers Stewart.  He graduated from Christian Brothers High School and attended The University of Arkansas for one year.  After discovering that they did not offer a degree in Forestry and knowing that he wanted to work in the outdoors, he transferred to The University of Florida.  While there he was a proud member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Dan graduated in 1956.  After graduation, he entered the US Army and served for 2 years stationed in upper New York State.  Due to his agility in riflery, he was assigned to the rifle team and spent much of his two years competing in the US and abroad.  On several occasions he was asked to be a part of the Honor Guard at funerals of service personnel. After his tour in the army, Dan accepted a job with Georgia Kraft in Forsyth and it didn't take him long to realize he had found a home. He joined Forsyth United Methodist Church and participated in church activities as well as community activities.  He worked with the Boy Scout post 105 sponsored by Georgia Kraft and was an active member of the Monroe County Jaycees from which he received numerous awards both local and state.  Dan helped to organize the Ducks Unlimited program and The Sportsman's club for Monroe County. He was also one of the founders of Monroe Academy and supported it throughout its existence.  After Georgia Kraft was dissolved, in the late 80s, Mead Corporation asked him to join their organization to become their Land Acquisitions Manager, buying and selling land for them until his retirement in 1994.  He was recognized as their "$65,000,000 million dollar man" having handled that amount of purchases and sales from 1988 thru 1994. After his retirement from Mead in November of 1994, he formed Stewart Consultants and continued buying and selling land until December of 2004. Dan Stewart was an avid hunter and to a lesser extent a fisherman.  He was known to tell people that he "hunted from Alaska-South and anything that walked or flew".  As his hunting buddies would tell you, all they had to do was say when and where and he was ready to go. He did, however, draw the line when it came to the animals in Africa.  He went on a picture taking safari to Africa, with his oldest daughter, but would not consider killing any of the animals there. Dan loved history, especially Civil War and World War II history. The latter led him to write his column "Heroes Among Us" for the Monroe County Reporter for over 3 years. He considered this his greatest achievement.  He sought out and interviewed every World War II veteran in Monroe County, that he could find, and wrote their stories.  It became one of the most popular columns in the paper and many family members of the veterans told him they didn't know these stories until they read them in the paper.  As the editor so aptly put it, "I have read thousands of words Dan Stewart has written about World War II Veterans and one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is that he does not do these articles because he likes seeing his byline in the paper.  He writes them because he values the people he writes about."  In 2001 he received a Certificate of Appreciation from the State Department of Veterans Affairs for this effort.  Many of these men and women joined the service soon after Pearl Harbor and had not finished high school.  Dan strongly felt that this should be remedied and so he organized a program at Mary Persons High School, at which they were awarded their diplomas.  Chief Justice Harold Clarke, of the Supreme Court of Georgia, handed out these diplomas and the looks on the faces of all who were honored was all that was needed to see this was a success. Dan loved gardening and for many years after his retirement from Mead he planted quite a large one at his home. He took great joy in growing all kinds of vegetables and sharing them with friends and neighbors in Monroe County.  However, there was one thing that he would not share, (butterbeans), until he found someone that loved them better than he.  This lady was a friend of his and he received a phone call from her one morning with an offer to trade pine straw for butterbeans.  Since there were no pines in his yard, it did not take him long to agree to the trade.  To say that he loved the University of Florida would be an understatement. It was said that he was one of the first to purchase Direct TV in the rural area of Monroe County so that he would have access to all the games which he could not attend. After every game he and his former college roommate would discuss every play and decide how well the coach did.  Dan was a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend. One of his greatest joys was mentoring his grandchildren. One of his granddaughters commented that with Dan you could catch fish and have a tea party all in the same day. One of his last acts of love was cutting down a Christmas tree for two of his grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, David Conyers Stewart. He is survived by his wife, Ann Mcgill Stewart, daughters, Danise Stewart and Susan (Glenn) Botsford, step-children, Carol (Steve) Nettles,  Dr. Robert (Dr. Kathy Minter) Coney and William Coney.  He is also survived by 11 grandchildren, Helen and Sally Blumberg, Bryce and Blake Botsford, Rob, Callie and Conner Nettles, Chris, Hayden, Travis and Ryan Coney, his sister-in-law Glenda Stewart, niece Sherry (Paul) Willette and nephew Larry Stewart. The family would like to offer a special thanks to the caregivers that looked after Dan over the last 14 years - Angela Shannon, Lurene Webb, Victor Bailey, Mary Bloodser, Colandra Jackson and Loe Barkley. Dan Stewart's life of love and unselfish giving was cut short by an unexpected tragedy in December 2004, but his love of life will be remembered by all who knew him.  Funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m., Saturday, August 4, 2018, at Forsyth United Methodist Church with burial in Forsyth City Cemetery. Rev. Ken Stephens and Rev. Rick Maeser will officiate.  The family will greet friends from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Friday, August 3, 2018, at Monroe County Memorial Chapel. Flowers will be accepted or donations may be made to The Methodist Home, Post Office Box 2525, Macon, GA 31203, Macon Volunteer Clinic, 376 Rogers Avenue, Macon, GA 31204 or Forsyth United Methodist Church, 68 West Johnston Street, Forsyth, GA 31029.Monroe County Memorial Chapel has charge of arrangements.