High school journalism teacher leaves lasting word
Stewart touched lives of many, produced lifetime of memories
Christmas Day 2020 would have been the 80th birthday for Ken Stewart, who was my high school journalism teacher, and an early mentor for my chosen writing and editing profession.
On Nov. 29, Mr. Stewart passed away at age 79. Though he was born Dec. 25, 1940, in Whiting, to Lehman and Edna Stewart, the family moved to a farm in Wheatfield, Ind., the small town where my own mom Peggy was raised, in 1943.
He began his college education at Indiana State University but transferred to David Lipscomb University, where he earned his degree, and continued his education at Purdue while teaching high school. He taught business education and journalism classes for 34 years, mostly at the North Judson-San Pierre High School, and served for more than 30 years as adviser for the school’s yearbook, The Pilot, and our newspaper, The Clarion.
As I wrote in a Sunday column earlier this month when honoring an equally beloved elementary school teacher Mrs. Eckert, who recently passed, teachers leave a lifelong impression on the young minds they mold and guide in their classrooms. Mr. Stewart not only taught myself, but also all of my older brothers and sisters who had him for courses such as journalism, typing and “office machines,” the latter, referring to use of adding machines and calculators, sounds so very antiquated in today’s digital age.
In addition to teaching, Mr. Stewart had a passion for photography, music, gardening, traveling and attending sporting events. Since so many of his school newspaper and yearbook students were also student athletes, it was Mr. Stewart who spent most of his Friday and Saturday nights with his trusted camera in hand, walking the sidelines of basketball courts and football fields taking photos to capture memories of school life.
As one of Mr. Stewart’s yearbook editors, I spent many hours on deadline assisting him and other student editors with the production of the yearbook project during class time and after school.
My mom joined me at Stewart’s graveside service on Dec. 4 at the Wheatfield Cemetery to say goodbye, with Gerald Frump officiating from the Church of Christ in Wheatfield.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the open casket viewing in a cemetery outdoors setting seemed strangely odd. However, the unusual circumstances did allow an opportunity for a final word from departed Mr. Stewart. The funeral director advised those gathered to look at the engraved insignia on the lid of the large vault where the casket would be laid to rest. The inscription read: YEARBOOK. This one, perfectly chosen word not only captures Mr. Stewart’s commentary on life, but one that also applies to us all.
As mentioned in my previous columns and published books over the decades, even before Mr. Stewart, my earlier mentor who guided me to the path of journalism, was my Sunday school teacher Stanley Pieza. When he died in March 1994, his former newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, published a wonderful tribute written by staff writer Kenan Heise:
“Stanley Pieza, 88, a retired Chicago reporter and editor, started as a police reporter in the era of ‘The Front Page’ journalism of the 1920s and then covered religion in the city for more than four decades for the Chicago Examiner and Chicago American and Chicago Today. A resident of North Judson, Ind., he died Tuesday in the Little Company of Mary Care Facility there. Mr. Pieza began with the Chicago Examiner in 1926. Mr. Pieza made his mark by scooping other religion writers. He was especially proud that he had interviewed four popes and had covered the proceedings of the Second Vatican Council. A native of Lithuania, he broadcast over Vatican Radio in 1965 to people in Iron Curtain countries. Survivors include two daughters, Joanna McGlone and Bernadette Shaner; two sons, John and Thomas.”
I had the honor of writing Mr. Pieza’s obituary in 1994 sent out over the Associated Press wire service.
When people ask me why I decided to become a newspaper reporter, I usually respond as I did in the “Acknowledgments” section of my first “From the Farm” book, explaining that my mentor was the late Mr. Pieza, my Sunday school teacher and a former reporter for William Randolph Hearst at the Chicago HeraldAmerican, a newspaper that was eventually purchased by the Chicago Tribune.
Mr. Pieza and his wife, Anne, a professional singer of the Chicago stage scene (and who also was my Sunday school teacher and played the organ at mass), retired to a small farm not too far from our family farm. He always told many wonderful stories about the famous and interesting personalities he met and interviewed during the course of his journalism career. The walls of the library in his home were filled with framed photos of himself interviewing everyone from popes and members of the Kennedy Family to actors and actresses like Eddie Cantor and Irene Dunne.
Both the names of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Pieza will live on in the minds of memories of all who not only knew these men, but also the many newspaper stories, photos and yearbooks created by them and still shared and enjoyed by so many.