Neighbor News
Former Narberth Resident Stewart Patrick dies at 85
Stewart Patrick was a member of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church choir and an active participant in the British Officers Club.
Charles Edward Stewart Patrick passed away on October 19 at the age of 85 in Walnut Creek, California.
Stewart, as he was known to friends and family, was born to William Leonard Patrick and Josephine Mary Patrick, and grew up in the town of St. Helens in Lancashire, England, where William worked as a research chemist involved in the war effort.
After graduating from the Oundle School, Stewart served in the 37th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the British Army Royal Artillery from 1956-58, stationed in Malta. While there, he played rugby for the regiment and acted in a modern army dress version of Shakespeare’s “Henry V.”
Stewart earned a BA and MA in natural sciences from Cambridge University, where he rowed in the 1959 Trinity College rugby boat. After working at ICI as an industrial engineer for several years, he crossed the Atlantic to earn his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stewart spent several years working for McKinsey & Co. in New York and then London, eventually returning to the United States and becoming a U.S. citizen. He lived for many years in Rye, New York, working with McKinsey, then Continental Can Co. and finally PepsiCo. In the 90’s, he moved to Philadelphia to be Compensation and Benefits Director at Cigna Corporation, and subsequently at the St. Gobain Corporation, from which he retired in 2005. Outside of work, Stewart was an active participant in the British Officers Club and the Honorable Artillery Company.
Stewart had a lifelong love of music. While living in Narberth, he joined the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church choir, and after he and his wife Elenita (“Leny”) Bader-Patrick moved to Walnut Creek, California, in 2012, he joined the Livermore Choir and served on their Board of Directors. He also participated in numerous barbershop quartet competitions, and traveled to many countries with Leny, making friends and tasting new wines along the way. If a chorus of “Happy Birthday” broke out near Stewart, he couldn’t resist joining in and adding the bass line.
Stewart is survived by his wife, his sons Nicholas and Rupert and their wives Rossana and Sara, stepdaughters Christine and Caroline, grandchildren William, Cecilia, Cameron, Charlie, Alex, Claire, Alexander, and Madelyn, and by his younger sister Julia and former wife Gilly.
