E. L. "Bud" Stewart, GOP State Chairman, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, died Monday, October 17, 2011 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida after a long illness. He was born at Fort Benning, Georgia, on June 7, 1928 to then-Lieutenant Elam L. and Angie Lateer-Stewart. He moved with his parents to several U. S. Army posts across the country and in Hawaii until 1942 when he attended Culver Military Academy (Culver, IN), graduating in 1946. In 1950, he graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, with a BA Degree in Economics, where he was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After graduating from DePauw he briefly worked for the Illinois Central Railroad in Chicago and, on April 7, 1951, he and Katharine (Kit) Sherman (DePauw ‘50), were united in marriage. Also in 1951, he began 10 years of service in the U.S. Army Reserves, resigning at rank of Captain, and started a lifetime career in oil and gas exploration and production. Serving initially as a "land man" with the Carter Oil Company (later Humble), in Mattoon and Carmi, Illinois for several years, he transferred to their Ponca City and Shawnee (Oklahoma) offices in the late 1950's. In 1961, he became an independent oilman and started actively lobbying the federal government in the 1970's on behalf of the independent oil industry. He served over 25 years as President of the Energy Consumers and Producers Association, an oil and gas trade group and, from 1987 to 1991, served as Energy Advisor to Oklahoma Governor Henry Bellmon, representing Oklahoma on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission. In 1962, he became active in the Republican Party of Oklahoma, initially serving as Pottawatomie County (OK) Chairman and then, as State Republican Chairman from 1965 to 1969, where he served four years as a member of the Republican National Committee, and was a delegate to the 1964, 1968 and 1988 Republican National Conventions. In 1969, he was appointed by then-President Richard Nixon to serve as Federal Chairman of the Ozarks Regional Commission which included the Governors of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Louisiana, with headquarters in U.S. Department of Commerce/Washington D.C. In 1970, he established a regional office for the Ozark Commission when he and his family moved to Muskogee (Oklahoma); and, in 1976, he was the Republican nominee/candidate for Oklahoma's 2nd District Congressional seat. Active in community affairs, he served as an Elder in the First Presbyterian Churches in Shawnee and Muskogee; was a founder and past president of Kendall Place Historic District; founder and board member of Three Rivers Museum; served twice on the Muskogee on the Muskogee Historical Preservation Commission; was a long time consultant to the Muskogee Convention and Tourism Council and member of the Chamber of Commerce; Friends of Oklahoma Music Board; Treasurer of the Upper McClellan Kerr Waterway Association; More Beautiful Muskogee; developed Harborcliff condominiums on Ft. Gibson Lake, and enjoyed boating and model railroading as hobbies. His wife of 54 years, Kit, predeceased him on August 2, 2005. Bud is survived by one son, Matthew, daughter-in-law, Linda; four grandchildren, Wesley and Whitney Stewart; Barak and Coby Davis, as well as Emma Nichole Davis - a great-granddaughter; all of whom live in the Neptune Beach/Jacksonville, Florida area. Memorial services will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the First Presbyterian Church of Muskogee with Pastor Ann Brizendine officiating. Interment will be in the Stewart Family plot at Maple Ridge Cemetery in Carmi, Illinois following a brief 10:00 a.m. service at Campbell Funeral Home on Tuesday, November 8, 2011. In lieu of flowers you may make a memorial gift to Culver Educational Foundation in memory of Elam L. "Bud" Stewart, Culver Military Academy Graduate 1946 to: Culver Educational Foundation, 1300 Academy Road Box 153, Culver, IN. Funeral service arrangements are under the direction of Foster-Petering Funeral Home.
(Published in The Muskogee Phoenix Newspaper on-line edition on Oct. 23, 2011)