Leader of the Band

Daniel H Stewart, Apr 1957

Video - Leader of the Band

Awhile ago I wrote about stories my mother told me and I thought I would do one about my dad too, except when I tried to think of stories about his life that he had told me I realized there weren't that many. That's kind of sad.  And most of the stories I do know my mother told me.

My dad was a quiet person but he was always there for us especially when it came to driving us around.  I was on a swim team in my teenage years and parents often had to drive us to swim meets. My dad drove so often that once our coach said and not Mr. Stewart again.

My dad was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba but was raised in New Brunswick, mainly around Saint John and Hampton. His mother moved back east with my dad and his brother when she left her husband. My mum said that they lived on the charity of family for quite some time.  As kids we often said we wanted to live on a farm but mum said dad wouldn't like it as once he had been kicked by a horse named One Apple, since the horse only had one eye.

Danny and brother Alex

Danny on a pony

Danny with pet rabbit

Danny with his mother and father.

My dad left school in Grade 8, I'm not even sure he finished the grade. I think he worked at a grocery store for awhile and at Ganong's candy factory on the loading dock where he said he carried large bags of sugar.  He joined the Ground Observer Corps and spent sometime in British Columbia. He joined the RCAF as a plotter and later was an Air Defence Technician (often called a radar operator or scope dope)

Danny Apr 1950

Cpl DH Stewart

Inspection Oct 1958, Dan Stewart on the phone.

Dad loved music especially classical and opera, my mum said it was surprising as he didn't likely have much exposure to that type of music in his youth. He loved Pavarotti, Josh Groban but especially he loved Sarah Brightman, who he always referred to as his "girlfriend".  He also loved planes, everywhere we would go he would take pictures of any planes that he saw, he had a photo album just of pictures of planes. I'm sure if he had gone further in school he might have tried to be a pilot.

But how I remember my dad was on our family trips. He did all the trip planning and most all of the cooking, He was so organized about our trips that he even made a cabinet for the back of our Volkswagon bus and that was the pantry. 

This is Us!

We took many a family trip and, of course, there were the postings what with dad being in the military, when I was young those moves happened about every three years. In his quiet way, Dad was always the leader of our little band.

Happy Father's Day Dad! I miss you!