Jack Willard Steward, Alpha Zeta (Oregon State), the fraternity’s 21st national president, passed to the Chapter Eternal on Friday, September 28. He was 88. Steward served a for 10 years on the National Council, first elected in 1966 as secretary. He would later ascend the ranks of the Council serving as national vice president from 1968-1970, national president from 1970-1972 and then two terms as past national president and national member-at-large respectively. His time on the National Council was preceded by time on fraternity staff. He served as a traveling counselor from 1949-1950, working to rebuild Pi Kappa Phi after the Second World War.
For his exceptional and meritorious service, he was awarded a Merit Citation in 1979 by the 37th Supreme Chapter. This was the fraternity’s 75th anniversary – a fitting backdrop against which one of the fraternity’s best volunteers was to be recognized. A decade later he would receive the fraternity’s highest volunteer recognition – Pi Kappa Phi 1989 – one of only 46 men to receive this award and the only initiate from Alpha Zeta Chapter.
Steward was active in many facets of the fraternity throughout his life, rarely allowing age, infirmity or geography to play a deterring role. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation’s Centennial Commission – the group of donors who supported the campaign to honor the fraternity at its Centennial Celebration in 2004 as well as a contributor to the Foundation’s campaign for a new national headquarters in 2007. Steward also volunteered his time helping Push America’s cycling teams in 2003, 2005 and 2006, and he held numerous roles supporting his local chapter.
Fellow Past National President Ted Scharfenstein, Beta Beta (Florida Southern), penned the following remembrance of Brother Steward upon hearing the news of his passing. With his permission, it is re-printed here so that you can get a glimpse of this tremendous Brother.
One of the benefits of aging – there are a few – is that you shared a time with some memorable people. Jack Steward was a memorable person. Our friendship began in the early 60s when I was a traveling counselor for the fraternity. One of my fall trips was to the West Coast. Gamma Chapter had three men, Alpha Omega at Oregon had a handful and Alpha Zeta at Oregon State was a solid chapter. That was it for the West Coast. Alpha Omega Chapter is in Eugene, Ore., where Jack and Carolyn lived at the time. I stayed with them for several weeks while we tried to rebuild the chapter. In many ways they invited to me become a member of their family. Jack understood what traveling was all about since he worked with Executive Director Bernie Jones as a traveling counselor after his days at Alpha Zeta. Jack was the personnel director for the University, and we rode to the school each morning together. Rebuilding the chapter was a long slog, and it never really caught on. Jack and Carolyn invited me each weekend to see a different part of beautiful Oregon. We saw Crater Lake, Depot Bay, Bend, Portland, the Timberline Lodge atop Mount Hood (both in the fall and the winter) and the Columbia River Gorge. He always introduced me as someone from back east. Of course, we visited Alpha Zeta, and Jack took great pride in showing me the house and the university. No one could have been more hospitable. Following my time as a member of the national staff (1961-65), I went to George Washington University to earn an MBA and began a career in hospital administration. I was the chapter advisor at Alpha Eta (Samford) and attended Supreme Chapter in Chicago in 1970. There were a number of men involved with the convention I knew from my traveling days. Kelley Bergstrom, Frank Parrish, Pat Ryan and others were key men in the local committee. I believe it was Kelley who asked me if I would consider being nominated for the Council. Jack was in position to be the national president, and I asked him what he thought about having me on the Council with him. He said few things would please him more. In the end, I was elected vice president and served with Jack for a total of seven years. He ran a crisp meeting and worked hard to move our fraternity ahead. One of the memorable things we did was to buy the acreage on Nations Ford Road, which became the site of the administrative office. Jack was a Navy veteran of WWII. He was in the Sea Bees working through the South Pacific. He told me the chapter initiated him shortly after he joined so there would be men to rebuild the chapter after the war. Not every brother survived. He married Carolyn, a Gamma Phi Beta from Oregon State University, and settled in Oregon to raise a family. Jack and Carolyn played bridge on a regular basis, and there were many nights at the Supreme Chapter when multiple bridge games would take place in the evenings. John and Kay Deimler, Jack and Carolyn, Al and Elvira Head, Madeline and I all participated. Somehow it seems quaint today to have four national presidents playing bridge at the Supreme Chapter. It all seemed quite normal at the time. Jack and Carolyn’s daughter lived in Vermont some years ago, and the Stewards gave us an opportunity to return their hospitality. I asked them what they wanted to see while in Rockport, Mass., my hometown for many years. He said he wanted to see Harvard Yard and to go up to Montreal for lunch. Harvard was easy, I told him that Montreal was a day’s ride. You see, to someone from the wide-open West, everything seems so close in the East. One of my favorite Pi Kapp moments has always been honoring Mr. Pi Kappa Phi recipients. I gave Jack his Mr. Pi Kappa Phi certificate in Washington, D.C., in 1989. It was a warm and caring reception for this extraordinary brother. I affectionately called Jack, “Dad” for years because in so many ways he filled that role for me. Carolyn once told me she didn’t care if I called Jack, Dad as long as I didn’t call her Mother. We all had a good laugh! Jack was a member of WWII’s “Greatest Generation”. He was that for Pi Kappa Phi as well. Unselfish, engaged, loyal, energetic and devoted to the best principles of brotherhood. He was a man who earned our respect and our gratitude for a life well spent. I will miss him.
One of the benefits of aging – there are a few – is that you shared a time with some memorable people. Jack Steward was a memorable person. Our friendship began in the early 60s when I was a traveling counselor for the fraternity. One of my fall trips was to the West Coast. Gamma Chapter had three men, Alpha Omega at Oregon had a handful and Alpha Zeta at Oregon State was a solid chapter. That was it for the West Coast. Alpha Omega Chapter is in Eugene, Ore., where Jack and Carolyn lived at the time.
I stayed with them for several weeks while we tried to rebuild the chapter. In many ways they invited to me become a member of their family. Jack understood what traveling was all about since he worked with Executive Director Bernie Jones as a traveling counselor after his days at Alpha Zeta. Jack was the personnel director for the University, and we rode to the school each morning together. Rebuilding the chapter was a long slog, and it never really caught on. Jack and Carolyn invited me each weekend to see a different part of beautiful Oregon. We saw Crater Lake, Depot Bay, Bend, Portland, the Timberline Lodge atop Mount Hood (both in the fall and the winter) and the Columbia River Gorge. He always introduced me as someone from back east. Of course, we visited Alpha Zeta, and Jack took great pride in showing me the house and the university. No one could have been more hospitable.
Following my time as a member of the national staff (1961-65), I went to George Washington University to earn an MBA and began a career in hospital administration. I was the chapter advisor at Alpha Eta (Samford) and attended Supreme Chapter in Chicago in 1970. There were a number of men involved with the convention I knew from my traveling days. Kelley Bergstrom, Frank Parrish, Pat Ryan and others were key men in the local committee. I believe it was Kelley who asked me if I would consider being nominated for the Council. Jack was in position to be the national president, and I asked him what he thought about having me on the Council with him. He said few things would please him more. In the end, I was elected vice president and served with Jack for a total of seven years. He ran a crisp meeting and worked hard to move our fraternity ahead. One of the memorable things we did was to buy the acreage on Nations Ford Road, which became the site of the administrative office.
Jack was a Navy veteran of WWII. He was in the Sea Bees working through the South Pacific. He told me the chapter initiated him shortly after he joined so there would be men to rebuild the chapter after the war. Not every brother survived. He married Carolyn, a Gamma Phi Beta from Oregon State University, and settled in Oregon to raise a family. Jack and Carolyn played bridge on a regular basis, and there were many nights at the Supreme Chapter when multiple bridge games would take place in the evenings. John and Kay Deimler, Jack and Carolyn, Al and Elvira Head, Madeline and I all participated. Somehow it seems quaint today to have four national presidents playing bridge at the Supreme Chapter. It all seemed quite normal at the time.
Jack and Carolyn’s daughter lived in Vermont some years ago, and the Stewards gave us an opportunity to return their hospitality. I asked them what they wanted to see while in Rockport, Mass., my hometown for many years. He said he wanted to see Harvard Yard and to go up to Montreal for lunch. Harvard was easy, I told him that Montreal was a day’s ride. You see, to someone from the wide-open West, everything seems so close in the East.
One of my favorite Pi Kapp moments has always been honoring Mr. Pi Kappa Phi recipients. I gave Jack his Mr. Pi Kappa Phi certificate in Washington, D.C., in 1989. It was a warm and caring reception for this extraordinary brother. I affectionately called Jack, “Dad” for years because in so many ways he filled that role for me. Carolyn once told me she didn’t care if I called Jack, Dad as long as I didn’t call her Mother. We all had a good laugh!
Jack was a member of WWII’s “Greatest Generation”. He was that for Pi Kappa Phi as well. Unselfish, engaged, loyal, energetic and devoted to the best principles of brotherhood. He was a man who earned our respect and our gratitude for a life well spent. I will miss him.