Obituary for Terry K. Stewart Terry Kent Stewart passed away Sunday, December 2, 2018 in Irving, Texas. He was born Sunday, February 28, 1937 in Wooster, Ohio to Kenneth Eugene Stewart and Marie (Snoddy) Stewart (both deceased). He has one sister, Sue (Stewart) Van Horn, now in California.
From a very young age, Terry knew he wanted to fly planes. At 15 he started taking flying lessons, flew his first solo flight on his 16th birthday in the snow, and at 17 earned his private pilot license and joined the Air National Guard at Mansfield. After graduating from Wooster High School in 1955, Terry joined the US Air Force and went to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, and progressed to aviation cadet training in Hondo, Texas for primary training on the T-28 and the T-34.
He went on to fly the T-33 for completion of all jet training and fly intercept in all weather. Terry was assigned to the 431st Fighter Interceptor Squadron “Red Devils” in 1958 in Tripoli, Libya. Soon after, the squadron was transferred to Zaragoza, Spain and there he remained until 1962 when he was assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron at Selfridge Air Base near Detroit.
During his tenure in the USAF, Terry flew the F-86, the F-102, and the F-106. After 10 years of service in the Air Force, Terry was hired as a pilot for American Airlines in 1965. He was based in Dallas until his retirement in 1997 and over the course of his commercial career flew the DC-6/7 and captained the 727 and finally DC-10 until retirement.
Terry was a family man, having married Aprill Sue Andrews of Tucson, Arizona in 1971, whom he met in 1958 while stationed in Spain. They would go on to have two daughters, Amber and Tamara. Terry loved to golf and travel, often by car, not plane!
He was a 52-year member of the Las Colinas Country Club, a member of the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire, and the Grey Eagles. His love of aviation led him to become a volunteer at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas in 2018. Among those who will miss him greatly are his wife of 47 years, Aprill, his sister Sue, his eldest daughter Amber (Stewart) Fraccastoro and son-in-law Jeff, grandchildren Ethan and Arabella, his youngest daughter Tamara and daughter-in-law Kristina Thomas and his nephews Jonathon, Robyn, and Rory.
A man whose actions more than accounted for his character, his disciplined and caring nature provided for so many the wings in which to navigate the world and for them to know that the sky has no limit. The family requests if you so desire to donate to a charity of your choosing in Terry’s honor. To send flowers to the family of Terry K. Stewart, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
