Charles Braxton Stewart, Jr., age 100, formerly of Charleston, died Saturday, October 1, 2016.
Born March 15, 1916, in Welch, he was a son of the late Charles Braxton Stewart, Sr., and Nina Lucile Swope Stewart.
Charles grew up in Huntington. He attended Ohio State University for a year before moving to Morgantown. In 1941 he married Kathleen Nottingham, of Boyer, and started working for DuPont as part of the war effort. He entered the United States Navy in 1943, and was on his way to Guam as a radio technician when the war there occurred. After the war, DuPont transferred him to the Belle plant, where he began as a draftsman. After obtaining a degree in math and physics from West Virginia State College, he became a mechanical engineer and finished his 48-year career as a staff engineer at the Belle plant, where, for many years, he was famous for his massive and meticulous safety manuals.
He and Kitty enjoyed a houseboat, the Barbara Kathleen, for several years on the Kanawha River. He was a longtime member of Bream Memorial Presbyterian Church, where he served in many capacities.
Charlie was a man of many talents and interests. He was a master woodworker, building furniture, toys, looms, sculptures and boxes of every sort. If you needed it, he could make it happen. When he did not have the tools he needed, he invented and built it. He loved a good challenge. His back yard was the most beautiful perennial hillside on the West Side of Charleston. His talents even extended to architecture and, occasionally, art. After retirement, he and Kitty traveled extensively and had many adventures. He also loved a good story, and some of the best memories involve him sitting around the dining room table telling stories.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Kitty, in 2004; brothers, Blaine Stewart, Joe Stewart and John Stewart; and sisters, Forest Hillyard, Annette Jones and Patsy Koger.
He is survived by four children, Rosemary Weaver, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Linda Aufmuth, and husband, David, of Tucson, Arizona, Susan Boyer, and husband, Doug, of Morgantown, and Chuck Stewart, and wife, Heidi, of Vero Beach, Florida; grandchildren, Frank Hunt, and wife, Lee Ann, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Barbara Anglin, and husband, Seth, and Michael Aufmuth, and wife, Emilia, all of Tucson, Arizona, Kimberly Reynolds, and husband, Kurt, of Dallas, Texas, David Aufmuth, Jr., of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Annie Laux, and husband, Jeremy, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Christopher Boyer, and wife, Deborah, and Treah Haggerty, and husband, Justin, all of Morgantown, Christin Stewart, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Brandi Stewart, of Wakefield, Louisiana; 21 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren, who loved their GG and Dad-Dad.
Burial in the Arbovale Cemetery with Military Honors by the Pocahontas County Veterans Honor Corps will be held at a later date.
Online condolences may be made at www.WallaceandWallaceFH.com
