J. David Stewart

STEWART, C.D., D.S.O., E.D., LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN DAVID, business person; b. 21 August 1910 in Georgetown, son of James David Stewart* and Barbara Alice Westaway; m. 16 March 1935 Constance Creelman McArthur, and they had four children, Judith Beattie, Barbara Lois, Heather Marion, and Patricia Jane; Presbyterian; d. 5 December 1988 in Charlottetown. Stewart, a Conservative, was first elected in the general election of 1959 for 5th Queens. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1962 and 1966. He was defeated in the general election of 1970. Following the 1959 election, Stewart became Provincial Secretary. In 1961 he was also appointed as Minister of Tourist Development and of Municipal Affairs. He served in both positions until 1965. Before his provincial political career began, Stewart was a member of the Charlottetown City Council from 1946 to 1951, and was Mayor of Charlottetown from 1951 until his retirement in 1958. He was elected president of the Federation of Mayors and Municipalities of Canada in 1955. Stewart's father, James David Stewart served as premier from 1923 to 1927, and again from 1931 to 1933. Early in his life, Dave Stewart lived in Georgetown, but he later resided in Charlottetown. He attended West Kent School in the capital city. Stewart was a prominent business person who held senior positions with various companies. He was chairman of the Georgetown Shipyard Incorporated, president of Northumberland Ferries Limited, president of Charlottetown Petroleum Products Limited, and president of Stewart Motors Limited. He also was director of Industrial Enterprises Incorporated, a member of the advisory board of the Canada Permanent Trust Company, and a member of the board of broadcast governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. A veteran of the Second World War, Stewart had a distinguished military career. He served in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Stewart joined the Prince Edward Island Highlanders as a Private in 1928 and held the rank of Captain in the Canadian Army in 1939. He subsequently joined the North Nova Scotia Highlanders as a Major and went overseas where, in September 1943, he was made a Lieutenant-Colonel. Stewart was given command of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada. With only nine days of combat experience, on 10 August 1944, near Cannes, France, he and his men were ordered to take Hill 195. Stewart manoeuvred all 400 Argyles through enemy lines unscathed. He was ultimately awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Efficiency Decoration, and his name was mentioned in dispatches. Stewart was a member of various clubs, including the United Services Officers Club, the Charlottetown Club, the Green Gables Golf Club, and the Charlottetown Curling Club. J. David Stewart died in a Charlottetown nursing home on 5 December 1988. Constance Stewart was the daughter of Senator Creelman McArthur and Hannah Lois Beattie of Summerside.