Canadians Go Greek: the source for Canadian Chapters

WATERLOO, ON & INDIANAPOLIS - It is our sad duty to report the passing of another outstanding brother and shining example of a Delta Upsilon man. Brother Max D. Stewart, Alberta ’42, the first Canadian DU Traveling Representative, passed away April 9, 2004, at the age of 84. He had been in good health until January, when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

Max Douglas Stewart was born June 6, 1919 in Edmonton, Alberta. After attending public and high schools in Edmonton, he enrolled at the University of Alberta in the fall of 1937 in the Faculty of Arts and Science. He graduated in 1941 with the degree of B.A., and in 1942 with the degree of B. Com. During the years spent at Alberta, he was an active member of the DU Chapter for four and a half years, holding the positions of Chapter Editor of the Quarterly and Secretary. He was a delegate to the Provincial Conference held at the Washington Chapter in 1942.

Stewart in 1946 as a new DU Traveling Representative In student activities, he was a member of the German and History Clubs, and of Le Cercle Francais. He was Editor of the student telephone directory, a publication originally organized by members of Delta Upsilon. He wrote some stories for The Gateway, the student newspaper. He served as Secretary of the Students’ Council one year, at a time when four of the seventeen members of the Council were DU’s. Brother Stewart was one of four members of a Constitutional Reform Committee, which made a study of various student governments and recommended a number of important changes to the Constitution of the Students’ Union of the University of Alberta. He was one of two DU’s on this committee.

He spent two and a half years in the Canadian Army, in RCA and RCEME; the majority of the time was in Radar. He was discharged in the fall of 1945 and enrolled in The Graduate School of the University of Toronto. On June 6, 1946, he received the degree of M.A. (economics). Two weeks after receiving the master’s degree, he began his work as Traveling Representative for Delta Upsilon, at the urging of then-President of the Fraternity, Gen. J. Arthur Clark, Toronto ’06, to date, the only Delta Upsilon Fraternity President from Canada.

After finishing his stint on the Fraternity staff, he began his lengthy teaching career in 1953 with a three-year stint at the Royal Military College of Canada. In the summer of 1954, Stewart worked for the United Nations in New York as an economic affairs officer, concerned with international restrictive business practices. Stewart arrived in Waterloo, Ontario in 1956, when he was appointed an associate professor of economics at Waterloo College (the forerunner of Waterloo Lutheran University and Wilfrid Laurier University). He remained at Waterloo College until 1959, when he joined the federal Department of Justice as a combines officer.

After earning his PhD in Economics from Michigan State University, he returned to Waterloo Lutheran University in 1961 as a professor of economics, remaining until 1965, when he took up an appointmentat the University of Alberta. He returned to Lutheran (now Wilfrid Laurier) in 1974 where he served as Dean of the School of Business and Economics from 1974 – 1982. In 1982, he was elected Vice President: Academic until his retirement in 1983.

While he retired in 1983, retirement didn’t seem to slow Stewart down. He taught part time and was a seemingly constant presence on campus, taking in art shows, listening to speakers, participating in social events and just plain visiting his many, many friends.

An avid traveller, he enjoyed visiting his former students throughout the world and he would often say he could travel the globe without staying in a single hotel room. Max had a large collection of pictures and slides from his many trips and was fond of showing them in his home to friends while he delivered a running commentary on his travels. Max possessed a sharp sense of humour, and will be missed by his many friends and colleagues.

Stewart in 1983 Max Stewart was a loyal DU throughout his entire life. He enjoyed visiting with his DU friends at every opportunity, and always made new friends every chance he had. Once Max met you, you were a friend of his. To members of Delta Upsilon, he was a brother through and through. He accepted the title of “Brother” in Delta Upsilon as if it were an appointment of the highest regard. Any DU he met was his Brother for life.
Former DU Leadership Consultant and DUIF Board Member, Brother Allan Warrack, Alberta ’61 said, “When I traveled for DU, as the 2nd Canadian to do so, it was unbelievable to me the many many brothers that remembered Max and spoke of him fondly to me. He will be greatly missed.”

Fraternity Historian, Brother Craig Sowell, Houston ’92 stated, “When I met Max Stewart, I was immediately entranced with his enthusiasm. He just enjoyed talking about DU, and could tell that he was so proud to be a member, just by the things he said. His ability to recall a story was amazing. He once sat at a computer for 4 hours to type a lengthy reply to me. DU has truly lost an amazing brother.”

One of his favorite stories to tell about DU was the day he actually met U.S. Chief Justice and fellow DU Brother, Charles Evans Hughes, Colgate & Brown 1881. “ Charles Evans Hughes used to spend weeks at Jasper Park Lodge where I was a bellhop. About 75% or more of the guests were Americans. That was a marvelous experience of this active member -- the Chief Justice and a bellhop with his camera and with cheerful approval at the cabin he used on each summer visit.”

Contributions may be made to the DU Educational Foundation in Brother Stewart’s memory to: DU Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 68942, Indianapolis, IN 46268, Attn: Max Stewart Memorial Gift.

A memorial service in celebration of Brother Stewart’s life will be held at Wilfrid Laurier University on Friday, April 30, 2004.

Some of Brother Stewart’s DU memories are given below, in his own words. He was a proud DU, and relished each and every DU experience he had…as anyone could tell by his recount.

In Max Stewart’s own words…

“I was and still am proud to have been the first Canadian on our Fraternity's staff; Headquarters was then in York City -- I think Madison Ave. south of Grand Central Station on 42nd Street East. It has been my impression that the Board considered that my performance was satisfactory.” Rene Boileau, an Alberta Chapter President when I was an active, happened to visit the Toronto Chapter when I lived there in 1945-46, while earning an M.A. in Economics right after WW II. I had made no decision, not even tentative, about my next move after my degree in June of '46. Rene told me that President Clark was keen to have a Canadian DU as "the traveler". I think the title was traveling secretary. Rene was confident that a Canadian would face excellent odds.

I applied and Rene was proved correct.

Obtaining a green card was very straight forward, partly because our Canadian Council General in N.Y. was a Toronto DU and told every detail I needed to minimize the time involved.

My Uncle, Max T. Stewart, was the Trade Commissioner in New York. That gave me a comfortable initiation to that large city.

I enjoyed very much my three trips, chiefly by train, to almost all chapters and to some prospective ones. Meeting a number of lifelong travelers at Inter-Fraternity conferences, I was soon convinced that it is much more effective to be connected with the actives' generation. I lived in the house wherever that was feasible. I managed to make a number of lasting friends and remembered a quarter to a third of the names from year to year.

Strongly in favour of relatively short terms for chapter visitors, my fourth year in N.Y. was with “The

Value Line”, founded and managed by Arnold Bernhard, Williams ’25 a member of DU's original chapter and on the DU Board during my DU appointment. He and I became quite good friends. In later years I enjoyed an occasional weekend at his home in Conn.

Being somewhat gregarious, I thought I would be better off coming into contact with more people and relocated to San Francisco in sales with a local firm, Shuman & Agnew, which had some DU senior members. Arriving in the spring, I lived in the California Chapter house in Berkeley for a time until I found an apartment on a cable-car route to work.

The DU connections are strengthened, as I recall experiences during my traveling and after.

A Kansas Chapter active named Ken asked me on one of my visits to their outstanding house if I would like to go on a local flight in a small plain with him as pilot. We both enjoyed that afternoon flight. Ken became the CEO of a large Kansas City, Missouri insurance company.

When the Member Directories were in a useful form for both U.S. and Canada, I would regularly find where a strong connection was living in retirement and send a note: “How about a visit?” Ken emailed promptly and told me the best way to fly (of course leaving out O’Hare!) One morning, we drove to the Chapter, after we had had a quick lunch. His knocking on the door was answered by a pledge! Almost everybody was at class and that young man gave us a tour and was glad to meet an alumnus. It was a great test of his Chapter's high standards."