Robert D. Stewart Sr.

ROBERT D. STEWART SR., 78 of Hugo, IL passed away at 9:20 A.M. on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at his residence.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at the Edwards Funeral Home in Arcola, IL.    Burial with Military Rites conducted by the Arcola VFW and the Arcola American Legion will be in the Hugo Cemetery.   Visitation will be held from 11:00 A.M. until service time on Wednesday at the funeral home.

Robert was born on December 20, 1944, in Springfield, IL.  He was a son of Clifford H. and Mary Mildred (Hummel) Stewart.  He married Mary Virginia Pearl Smiley on April 6, 1979, in Arthur, IL.  

He is survived by his wife Mary; five children, Robin McConnell and her husband Johnnie of Whiting, KS, Robert Stewart Jr. and his wife Sherri of Tuscola, IL, Shane Stewart of Tuscola, IL, Paula Stewart and her fiancé Jerry Messer of Green Bay, WI, and Trina Stewart of Tolono, IL; 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, and a special friend, Bobbie Jo Hatfield of Tuscola, IL.

Robert grew up in Arcola, IL.  He attended church at the Arcola United Methodist Church.

He was a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Robert had worked as a truck driver, he was a good mechanic, he spent over 40 years operating Stewart Salvage in Chesterville, IL and later North of Bourbon, IL.  He and Mary owned and operated Tuscola Recycling Center before they sold to Bryant’s and retired.  

Robert always enjoyed going to ball games to watch his children and later his grandchildren.   He liked being outdoors and enjoyed watching birds, he even had 16 of his own, several parakeets, a couple of cockatiels and a conure.  His dogs were special to him as well, he had Pomeranians, his “little girls” as he called them, Baby and Molly.

After Robert retired, he enjoyed tinkering in his shop, he rebuilt lawn and garden tractors, he could fix almost anything.

Memorials may be made to Roberts’s family.