James Rush Stewart, Jr.

Woodlands, TX - James Rush Stewart, Jr., 88, died peacefully on December 23, 2015 in The Woodlands, Texas. Visitation will be at the Rose-Neath's Southside Chapel, from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 27, 2015. Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, December 28, 2015, with Reverend Tom Harrison officiating. Interment will be at 2:00 p.m. at the Pelican Cemetery, Pelican, Louisiana. A memorial service will be held in Houston later at a time and place to be announced. James was born December 28, 1926, in Orange, Texas to James Rush and Laura Mae Harris Stewart. After age three, he grew up in Pelican, La, and graduated valedictorian from Pelican High School in 1944. After two trimesters at Louisiana Tech he entered the US Army in March 1945, taking his basic training in Camp Robinson, Arkansas. He then attended Japanese Language School, University of Minnesota, and completed his service with 8 months in the Signal Corps at AFWESPAC near Manila, The Philippines. He returned to Tech in 1947, receiving a BS in Chemical Engineering, cum laude, there in 1950. While at Tech he became a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and the Student Body Government, and was honored by election to Omicron Delta Kappa and Who's Who in American Universities. He then obtained a Masters in Gas Technology at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1952. He immediately joined the Research Department of United Gas Corporation in Shreveport, Louisiana in June 1952 as Engineer, and beginning in 1965 stayed with its successor, the Technology Division of Pennzoil Company, until his retirement in 1990 as Manager, Process Research. He, accompanied by his wife, was transferred to The Woodlands, Texas, as was his Division, in 1984. He was a life-long birder and spent many years active in conservation work particularly after retirement. He served on the boards of the Shreveport Audubon Society, Houston Audubon Society, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (one of its founders), and Malcolm C. Damuth Foundation. He served as environmental representative in interagency groups such as the Stakeholders' Executive Committee, Texas Forest Service, Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor Plan Task Force, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Southeast Texas Water Planning Committee. He initiated the LOS News and was editor for many years. He also initiated and became chair of the Louisiana Bird Records Committee. He compiled the Breeding Season Report for the Central Southern Region, Audubon Field Notes from 1960 through 1974. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 48 years, Elaine Sylvia Marian Johnson Stewart; parents, James Rush Stewart, Sr. and Laura Mae Harris Stewart; his paternal grandparents, the Reverend Eli Stewart and Jane Pate Stewart; his maternal grandparents, William Ray Harris and Nena Hale Harris; his son, James Rush Stewart, III; and his sister, Katherine Stewart Duhon. He is survived by his three daughters, Joan Creech and husband John, Linda Oswalt and husband John, and Patricia Leeth and husband David, all of Shreveport, LA; seven grandchildren Joshua and Zachary Creech, Laura Bamburg, Parker and Meagan Leeth, Molly Creech Manno and Katie Bamburg Moroni and husband, Mark; and great grandson, Aidan Manno, and great granddaughter, Hadlee Pearl Moroni. He also leaves a special friend of many years, Mary Lou Fowler, of Houston, TX. Honoring him as pallbearers will his grandsons and son-in-laws, Joshua Creech, Zachary Creech, Parker Leeth, John Creech, David Leeth, and John Oswalt. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, 299 TX-332 Lake Jackson, TX 77566.