Leslie "Stu" Haynes Stewart

Leslie Haynes Stewart, Stu, to all who knew him, reached the end of his remarkable life on September 6, 2025, at the age of 83. He accomplished much in his lifetime and was well loved by all. During his 83 years, he professed his faith in Christ and tried to live out a life that would honor our Lord. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Stu was the second child born to Kathryne Alice Shannon Stewart and Basil Meredith Stewart. Shortly after Stu was born, Stu’s father accepted a position as attorney for the Texas Oil Company and moved his family to Texas City, Texas. Stu was 5 years old when his father was tragically killed by shrapnel from the ship explosion at the Texas City Disaster. Kathryne, known affectionately by her grandchildren as “Kakhi,” moved her family to Galena Park where she raised Stu and his older sister as a single parent on a second grade teacher’s salary. Stu would often speak fondly about the fathers of his neighbors and friends who stepped up to teach him how to throw a baseball. He would tell his family he never liked baseball much, but all that pitching practice taught him how to throw a football. He was the quarterback for his football team at Galena Park High School, and later was awarded a football scholarship to Tulsa University in Oklahoma. Stu was proud that his college scholarship fully paid for his books, room, and board. He knew that it would be hard for his mother to afford his college education on a teacher’s salary. After graduating with honors from Tulsa University, Stu attended South Texas College of Law at night to obtain his law degree, while working at Exxon as a paralegal during the day. Following graduation, he accepted a position at the DA’s office as a prosecutor and Assistant District Attorney under Carol Vance’s leadership. During his tenure at the DA office, Stu also taught classes interpreting the law for several years at the Police Officers Academy. After serving 7 years at the DA’s office, Stu went into private practice, initially practicing criminal law, then later specializing in family law. In addition to operating his private law practice, Stu served as the Traffic Court Judge at Hedwig Village for 30 years, holding Monday night court. While serving as a judge at Hedwig Village, Stu initiated a youth court program, where he worked with high school students to conduct court and hold mock trials in the evenings at the Hedwig Village Court House. Later in life, Stu grew to love being on the water in Galveston on his sail boat. He actually lived on his sailboat for a few years. He enjoyed taking family and friends out for a quick ride in the ship channel and even somehow talked a couple of friends into sailing across the gulf with him to Florida. As soon as they arrived in Florida, Stu planned to hire a crew to help him sail along with the “Columbus 500,” which was the 500 year anniversary sail of the route Columbus took to discover America. Unfortunately, during their voyage across the gulf, a big storm tore one of the sails, and they had to tie the boat up to an oil rig to ride out the rest of the squalls. Of course, this was a rather ambitious plan for a novice sailor, but that did not bother Stu. That was the kind of man he was, always ready to take on big challenges. The whole experience worked out to be a great story for Stu to use to entertain anyone who would listen to all the details of the trip. Stu loved to sing, even though he might not know all the words, he would try to sing along with his favorite hymns and country and western songs. He even sang in the choir at Second Baptist Church for several years. In his younger years when Stu officed in downtown Houston, he was an avid hand ball player at the YMCA. Later in his life some of Stu’s favorite things to do included riding on the bus to volunteer for Angels of Light, and attending the annual gathering of his Galena Park buddies at Beck’s Prime in Memorial Park. His fondest memories were of weekends in Galveston with his children and grandchildren sitting on the deck at his beach house, watching the sunset across the bay. When he had visitors at the beach house, he would always walk them to the door as they were leaving, reassuring them they could come again anytime they would like. Stu loved his family, loved to tell stories, and loved to make everyone laugh with his stories. As his 9-year battle with Alzheimer's progressed, he was unable to tell all those wonderful stories that we loved to hear. However, he still would do his best to make a funny remark to raise a smile or a laugh out of his caregivers and other residents at the memory care facility where he lived for the last two years of his life. Stu was preceded in death by his mother and father and his wife and mother of his children, Barbara Sharon Barnard Stewart. Stu is survived by his wife Iris Stewart, his sister Marilyn Stewart Daniel (John Daniel) and nephew John Stewart Daniel; his daughter Stacey Lynn Stewart Ecord (Michael Glenn Ecord); and their children Makayla Kate Ecord and Tristan Sean Ecord; his son Scott Edward Stewart; his step son Raymond Walker French and wife (Ginny) and their children, Grace and Sarah French. The family extends a special thanks to the staff at The Heritage Parkway, who took such good care of Stu at the memory care facility. Also, we are grateful for all the staff at Highland Hospice, who provided such wonderful care for Stu during those last days. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at Hankamer Chapel, Second Baptist Church, 6410 Woodway Drive, Houston, Texas, at 10:00 a.m. with a reception immediately following in the Deacon’s Parlor. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Galena Park HIgh School Athletics Dept. Use this link https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3U37UTRM23CXS&source=url and look for the drop down arrow to select “Donation-Other”. Then, follow the prompts & indicate your donation is in L.H. “Stu” Stewart’s name and that your donation is to go to GPHS Athletics. Also consider a donation to the Tellepsen YMCA https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/bethechange2025tellepsen

Leslie "Stu" Haynes Stewart

January 12, 1942 - September 6, 2025