Eugene R. Stewart

Eugene Ray Stewart
Bellevue, Nebraska
February 7, 1958 – April 29, 2023

Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Gene was the son of Dwight Ray Stewart Jr. and Annetta Jean (Smeal) Stewart, who preceded him in death. He grew up in Altoona and later in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, graduating from Central Cambria High School in 1976.

After high school, he spent time in Germany with his aunt and uncle, Polly (Stewart) and Dave Lubert. He traveled the world with his wife of 42 years, U.S. Air Force Maj. (Ret.) Susan Stewart, where he was the first male member of an officers’ wives club.

Both born in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, Gene and Susan together lived in and explored the National Capital Region in Maryland; the deserts of Texas; the swan migrations of Aomori Prefecture, Japan; the beaches of coastal Mississippi; the swamplands of Georgia; the valleys of Ohio; the castles and forests of Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany; and the prairies and plains on the region of the ancient Tethys Seabed now called Nebraska.

Gene spent his life writing and sharing himself with others through the written word. He was a voracious reader, even after his eyesight was diminished, and he spent most of his time literally surrounded by books. He was born on Charles Dickens’s birthday; he died on Alfred Hitchcock’s death-day.

Gene described the prevailing theme of his fiction writing as Fictamystica, reflecting mystical realism that spans genres and invites readers to see past the surface of stories, while also reflecting compassion for the common man. The writer Harlan Ellison once called his work “scintillant.”

Survivors include his wife and the twelve-legged mad scramble — their dogs Porthos, Athos, and Aramis — as well as their three sons, their partners and one grandchild: Scott Alexandr Stewart and Samantha Erin (Voshell) Stewart; Keelan Thør Stewart and Victoria Marie (Bowen) Stewart with grandchild Corri Ann Stewart; and Niklaus Mahlon Stewart and Rachel Alexandria Carson, all of Bellevue.

He is also survived by three siblings and their partners, as well as numerous nieces and nephews: Kimberly Rae (Stewart) and Douglas Chambers of Easton, Pennsylvania; Annetta Lee (Stewart) and Reuben “Wes” Ballard of Williamston, South Carolina; and Scott Allen and Carmen Stewart of Easton, Pennsylvania.

Inurnment at Omaha National Cemetery in Papillion, Nebraska, is Friday, May 12, with a private memorial service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the American Civil Liberties Union, Boys Town, Lift Up Sarpy County or another charitable cause – preferably one working to do good in Gene’s or the giver’s community.