Donald W. Stewart, age 79, of Countryside, formerly of Chicago; beloved husband of Jean for 51 years; loving father of Elizabeth (Gregory) Finlayson & Sarah (Matthew) Rozny; proud Papa of Ailie, Anna, James, & Wyatt; dear brother of Harold (Marge) Stewart & Tracy Stewart; fond uncle of Harry (Shannon) Stewart, Corrie (Jason) Howe, Megan (Henry) Dinwiddie, & Cicero Stewart; cousin & friend of many.

In an era before there was a cure for tuberculosis (TB), Don was given a TB diagnosis at the age of 3. He went on to spend years at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie Children’s Hospital), not as a sad, sick child, but as a young boy having epic adventures that would later become the bedtime stories he would share with his children and grandchildren. 

These adventures, which he documented in his eBook Donnie’s Hospital Adventures: A Boy’s Medical Memoir, included tales such as the time the boys crept out of the boys’ ward to hide around the hospital and play tricks on the nurses; the time the boys sneaked into the girls’ dorm to pour buckets of water on them; the wheelchair races through the hallways; the punishment of being sent into the closet alone with “George” the skeleton; and the nurse, Mrs. Blackman, who would threaten to send his toys to Great Britain (some faraway, exotic land) if the toys were left on the floor!

These adventures taught Don that in awful circumstances, adventure can always be found. Having been told that he would never be able to walk, ride a bike, swim or have children, he did all of these things and more—never letting anything hold him back. Despite Don’s medical diagnosis, his mother, Aurelia, never stopped him from having what Don would call a “full, American, Tom Sawyer childhood.” 

In the time between hospital stays, Don spent numerous joyful summers with his many cousins in Nashville, playing with his brothers in Chicago, and camping with his dad, Donald, and brothers at Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin. 

A year of enforced medical isolation in the hospital at the age of 9, sparked a lifelong love of games, reading, and learning. 

Don graduated from Steinmetz High School in January of 1964. Following graduation, as a first-generation college student, he attended Wright Junior College, University of Illinois at Navy Pier (“Champaign on the Rocks”), and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1968 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. Having developed a lifelong interest in the Roman Empire, he later received a master’s degree from University of Illinois at Chicago in Ancient History. 

Don would often joke that 1972 was a good year for him. He bought a new TV, a brand new blue Monte Carlo, and also met his future wife, Jean McIroy, at Augustana Hospital where they both worked. To his amazement, she was from Great Britain, that exotic land he had heard about in his childhood at the hospital! To greater amazement and excitement, Jean was from a small village near Chester, a city in northwest England with significant ancient Roman ruins. 

Don’s life was filled with adventure, but to him the greatest adventure was to become a husband in 1974, a father to Elizabeth in 1978 and to Sarah in 1980.

While Don was a safety engineer for many years, he was truly a teacher at heart even before beginning a second career as a professor at Moraine Valley Community College. Teaching history and anthropology courses, he was beloved by his students as a teacher who genuinely cared about imparting a love of learning while caring about their often difficult lives as they balanced school, jobs, and family responsibilities. He enjoyed offering advice and knowledge to those young learners and to the many young people who came to know him as his daughters’ friends, his nieces and nephews, children of his cousins, and youth at the church. He viewed their accomplishments with as much pride as if they were those of his own children. 

When not at work, Don could be seen driving his 1972 blue Monte Carlo; documenting family events and Roman ruins with photography; playing Risk or chess with his grandchildren; swimming; playing croquet; listening to music such as the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, and Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov; and attending Highlands Presbyterian Church, where he was a longtime member and Deacon. 

Don enjoyed travel in all stages of life. Some of his favorite trips included Algeria, Tunisia, Rome, England, Mexico, Peru, and many visits to Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin, earning him the Indiana Jones-inspired nickname “Illinois Stewart”.

He was an excellent husband, a model father, and a loving and involved grandfather. While he will be greatly missed, his influence and contribution to those he loved and inspired will live on in this generation and for generations to come. 

Visitation 4 to 8pm on Friday, May 9 at Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 1025 W. 55th St., Countryside. Family & friends will meet at Highlands Presbyterian Church, 1902 W. 59th St., LaGrange Highlands on Saturday, May 10 for 10am Funeral Service. Interment at Fairmount Willow Hills Memorial Park, Willow Springs, IL. Refreshments to follow at Highlands Presbyterian Church.

Memorial donations in Don’s name to either Highlands Presbyterian Church or Lurie Children’s Hospital are dearly appreciated.

Funeral information: (708) 352-6500