Mr. Dwight Andrew Stewart

By Jack Kuenzie – "Never tell me the odds."---Han Solo Dwight Andrew Stewart was five years old when Harrison Ford gave heroes everywhere that mantra in "The Empire Strikes Back." The boy we'd come to know as Drew had a lot of growing up to do before he'd need those fighting words to launch his own epic battle against darkness. Drew's journey started in Sumter shortly after Christmas, 1974. But it was Summerton where father Dwight and mom Sherry raised a son who soon showed signs of the personality that would make him an unforgettable man. A curiosity and an opinion about everything. A prankster who found creative ways to drop water buckets on sister Kate's head. A partner in crime imagining himself and brother Seth as Clarendon County's answer to Bo and Luke Duke. A mind his wife would later describe as "always going 90 miles an hour." Drew's movie wound through Boy Scouts, Manning High, a stint as a Christmas tree salesman, a journalism degree from the University of South Carolina and a career in media. He was a newspaper columnist and a sports junkie. He had a secret identity as the WUSC DJ named "Texas Pete" because, why not? His musical interests had a staggering range, from Hank Williams to Sun Ra. He loved Sesame Street. He loved Miles Davis. And he loved Jill Cauthen. They met in 1996 at USC's Wade Hampton dorm. "Interest at first sight," she says. A few years later, they were sitting at his computer when he turned and asked her to be his "permanent sweetie." Not the most conventional proposal, but the start of her amazing adventure with an unconventional guy. Drew's photojournalism career accelerated, from Columbia's WIS to WCIV in Charleston and back to Columbia. He met major sports celebrities. Montana, Gordon and Woods. He was on a first name basis with the HBC. And he was getting recognized for his on-air work. He covered news too. Hurricanes, politics, protests. One of his biggest stories almost ended in tragedy. Speeding to Washington, DC, in the hours after 9/11, Drew and reporter Lisa Goddard survived a rollover crash that wrecked their news vehicle. The incident might have given him a new appreciation of life, but no more so than becoming a father himself. Mason Andrew Stewart came into the world in 2006 at barely a pound and a half. But as Mason grew stronger, Drew had a second, shocking brush with mortality. His frequent headaches diagnosed in 2008 as a brain tumor. Within a week, surgery. Radiation, chemo. His TV friends put together a fundraiser and "Drew TV" was born. In the years that followed, prayers and many trips to Duke gave everyone hope a medical miracle had occurred. Even so, he again had to slow down. Taking and later leaving a state job as the illness reappeared. Drew Stewart turned even more to his faith. He once wrote: "My favorite all-time movie quote comes from "Rudy" when the priest tells the title character, "...in 35 years of religious studies, I've found only two hard, incontrovertible facts: There is a God. And I'm not Him." There is also this, from another inspirational cinematic figure Drew surely admired: "Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force." Yoda, of course. Drew has indeed transformed, and today we rejoice that he was among us. Dwight Andrew Stewart, 44, of Columbia, died Saturday, October 12, 2019. Born in Sumter, SC, he was a son of Dwight and Sherry Martin Stewart, and married to Jill Cauthen Stewart. In addition to his wife and parents, Drew is survived by his son, Mason Andrew Stewart; sister, Kate Lincoln (Stephen), Seth Stewart (Patty); father-in-law, Kenneth Cauthen (Marsha); mother-in-law, Jan Viars (Denver); brothers-in-law, Matt Cauthen (Meagan), Ben Cauthen (Tanya); eight nieces and nephews; and numerous loved ones, co-workers and fans. A service will be held at 11 o’clock, Wednesday, October 16th, at Shandon Presbyterian Church. The family will host a reception in Drew’s honor for friends and loved ones from 5 until 7 o’clock, Tuesday evening at Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, 7600 Trenholm Road Ext., Columbia. The burial will follow the service in Evergreen Cemetery, Summerton, SC at 4 o’clock. The family would like to thank Dr. Anne Hutchinson and the staff of South Carolina Oncology Associates, Dr. Katherine Peters and the brilliant team at Duke’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, and the staff at The Sigurd Center for Ortho and Neuro Rehab for the love and care they have shown Drew and the Stewart family. Memorials may be given to Shandon Presbyterian Church, 607 Woodrow Street, Columbia, SC 29205 and Brain Injury Association of South Carolina, 121 Executive Center Drive #135, Columbia, SC 29210, and Mason Andrew Stewart Education Fund, 6524 Sandale Drive, Columbia, SC 29206.

Tributes

Mr. Dwight Andrew Stewart

December 28, 1974 - October 12, 2019