Kenneth Norval Stuart (1926-2008)
"Stuart
passes skill of story-telling to children"
by Mary-Ellen Saunders
BLACKS HARBOUR - Kenneth Norval Stuart always liked to tell a good story and
hours before his funeral his children gathered together to use the story-telling
skills he had passed on to them to share their memories of him.
Stuart, 81, of Blacks Harbour, passed away on May 5 at the Fundy Nursing
Home. His funeral was held Friday at the Calvary Baptist Church.
"He loved the challenge of a good snowstorm," said his daughter
Andrea Savoy. "He would brag about how good his car worked and tell the
stories about what happened. It was a challenge for him to see if his brakes
would work or how fast he could go without going in the ditch."
A mill-worker, Savoy said her father loved everything with saw dust and would
make the family wooden treasures.
Savoy said her father always made his own bread and referred to store-bought
bread as "fog."
"The thing people remember about him the most is he used to file saws by
hand and everybody brought them to him. He was the best," said Savoy.
"He did them by hand no matter what new gadgets came out."
He was a man who loved to read old western books and every Saturday, Savoy
said, he carried his books down to the used bookstore and traded them for new
ones.
A father of five girls and three boys, Savoy said her mother was the one with
the rules and her father was the one they went to when mom said no.
"He was a softy. We could always get our own way with him."
Savoy was quick to recall memories of her father. She said they used to make
ice cream when they were children, take long drives together and have picnics.
One of her father's favourite things to do was go to Kings Landing.
Savoy said he knew everything about the place and the family would let him
tell them about it every time they went.
"Our family motto is 'through the laughter and the tears we made it
through the years,' " said Savoy.
She said Stuart used to meet his friends at the local post office at 9 a.m.,
as soon as the doors opened up, and they would all hang out there bragging about
their families and telling stories.
"He loved getting post cards so he could pull it out right there and
show everyone," said Savoy. "Whenever we went away we would always
send them."
SOURCE: New Brunswick-Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, NB) - May 14, 2008.
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