PORTEOUS, Stewart Wallace - Of Etobicoke, Ontario, died on April 21, 2020, at the age of 96.
Stewart was born on April 12, 1924 in Verwood, Saskatchewan, the second youngest of five brothers.
His first name is likely the maiden name of his father's paternal grandmother, Margaret Stewart.
His father was a manager for the Weyburn Security Bank, but the Great Depression took its toll and he moved the family west from Saskatchewan to Vancouver in May 1936 when Stewart was 12 years old.
Stewart was especially proud of having held a student council position at Britannia High School.
Towards the end of World War II he served as an infantry officer with the Canadian Army.
He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia and articled for one year as a law student with Ladner, Carmichael, and Downs, but ultimately chose to enter the ministry.
He graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Emmanuel College in Toronto and was ordained in Vancouver by the BC Conference of the United Church of Canada. In 1951, Stewart married Muriel McArthur; the ceremony took place at Vancouver Heights United Church.
In BC, he served the North Kamloops and Hope pastoral charges and was an assistant minister at St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church in Vancouver.
In 1952, he was appointed a Reserve Chaplain for the RCAF and served at various stations during summer vacations intermittently for more than 20 years.
Stewart moved the family to Ontario in 1959, first to Orillia where he served the Regent Park pastoral charge and then to Toronto.
In Toronto, he was Director of Curriculum Promotion at the United Church Publishing House at 299 Queen Street West. He later served as Promotion Manager for the United Church Observer magazine, and in 1978, also became responsible for accounting functions at the magazine. He retired in 1989.
He was a member of and actively involved with St. James United Church in Etobicoke.
For many years, he and his wife Muriel helped guide tours around the world for the United Church Observer.
Stewart will be lovingly remembered by surviving wife, Muriel; children Doug (Mary), Ken (Margaret), Sandra (Bill) and Greg (Cristina); grandchildren Kelly (Mike), Lisa, Christopher (Monika), Stephanie, Michael (Stephanie), Ellen, Emily, Karolyn (Curtis), Radu (Tina) and Vlad; great-grandchildren Matthew, Ryan, William and Louise. His father, Frederick Blake Porteous and mother, Mary Catherine (née Bell) and brothers, Dunc (Agnes), Don (Fern), Mac (Jean) and Bob (Alice) and daughter-in-law Christine predeceased him.
The family plans to hold a memorial service for Stewart at St. James United Church in Etobicoke.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Stewart's memory to Alzheimer Society Canada (http://www.alzheimer.ca).
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