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The Pinecone
|
July 2015
• 7 •
L I V I NG – LOV I NG – HUNT I NG
Meryl Stewart
He’s hard to quantify. Don’t be quick to pigeon-hole this man.
Fine upright characteristics commingle with a love of hunting
wild game; still haunted by the recent death of his wife of 63
years but focused as well on making his new life at Kirby Pines
“his life” – memories of his past melding with forward thinking
about shaping his life “in the moment” of day-to-day pleasure.
Meryl Stewart was born
in Memphis, TN. He
and his wife, Maxine,
met at the Air Diner,
his favorite hanging-out
place. In 1946, as part
of his “knocking around/
finding himself” period,
Meryl joined the Navy
and served 2 years. Then
it was on to Harding
College for 2 years;
followed by a variety of
work, including diesel
machinist, insurance agent, and landscaper. Next steps in the young
man’s life was joining the Air Force Reserves, which turned out to
be a 29+ year affair. His rank was Chief Master Sergeant and he
was posted to Alaska. The military taught Meryl to be a crack shot
with guns and rifles. Alaska gave him the opportunity to use these
skills to hunt big game and reel in species of large fish, such as
salmon and halibut. When his tour of duty was completed, Meryl
built a home in Alaska and he and Maxine settled in. Life was
good.
Meryl moved to Kirby Pines Retirement Community in 2014,
following the death of his wife. He said that Maxine put family
first, was beautiful, kind, quite talented in dealing with disabled
children in summer camp, and knitting an afghan for each child
to take home as a remembrance of their camping experience.
His home is replete with Maxine’s art work, collectibles, and
furnishings. He is now tending to health issues of his own,
common to aging, including knee surgery and open heart surgery.
But life should not be static and Meryl is on the move, in a sense,
of planning to visit his beloved Alaska – to again go after the big
fish, and savor the state’s natural beauty.
Tribulations and trials are common to all of us and, at times, it’s
hard to regain balance when we feel overwhelmed. But it’s urgent
that we find time to be good to ourselves; to return to people
and places that have helped define who we are – Meryl is on the
move to revisit his place of happiness. He’s a living lesson in self
revitalization. Bravo, Meryl.
-Jacqueline Besteman, Resident
P h ea s an t h u n t i ng i n Ko r ea du r i ng h i s m i l i t a r y y ea r s
103 pou nd ha l i bu t i n A l a s k a
Sa l mon
caugh t
i n A l a s k a ,
J u l y 1983