Eugene Stewart

The obituary of Mr. Eugene Stewart

Mr. Eugene Stewart passed away Friday, June 3, 2022, at the Mary Breckinridge Hospital in Hyden. He was 78 years old.  Eugene was born in Hyden, Kentucky, the son of the late Woodrow Stewart and Mahala Brock Stewart. He was a lifelong resident of Leslie County.

Throughout the years, Eugene owned and operated several businesses in Hyden, currently including the Medicine Shoppe pharmacy. He was most proud of his civic work and devotion to the people of Leslie County. He was a three-time mayor of the City of Hyden, serving from 1994 until 2006. Prior to that he served several terms on the Hyden City Council as a Councilman. He was also a long-time board member for the Kentucky River Area Development District. He was also a founding member of the Hardee’s Old Guy’s Coffee Club/Men on the Courthouse Corner Group. Some of his accomplishments as Mayor include obtaining a 3-million-dollar upgrade and renovation to the city wastewater treatment plant, securing new sidewalks and streetlamps, acquiring and maintaining a city police force of 5 full-time officers, and was instrumental in the early approvals and negotiations for the Kentucky Veteran’s Cemetery Southeast in Hyden.

In his retirement, he enjoyed cars, collecting guns and knives, NASCAR, traveling, cooking, and gardening. He was a member of the Hyden Masonic Lodge #664 and the Okleika Shrine. He also loved spending time with his grandchildren and their friends, and was known as “papaw” to many, many young people throughout the county.

 Eugene is preceded in death by his parents Woodrow Stewart and Mahala Brock Stewart; his infant daughter, Amanda Stewart; his sister, Ruby Stewart Amos and brother-in-law, Landon Amos; his father-in-law, Allen Denver Mattingly, and mother-in-law, Oma Pace Mattingly, and his son-in-law, Ritchie Lynn Napier. He is survived by the following relatives: his loving and devoted wife, Ronnie Carol Mattingly Stewart; his daughter, Eugenia Sue Stewart Napier and Steve Noe of Hyden, KY; his son, Keith Allen Stewart and Andy Davis, of Hyden, KY; his grandson, Stewart Lynn Napier and Loryn Paige Wegford Napier, of Richmond, KY; his granddaughters Haley Ronee Napier, of Tulsa, OK, and Holly Noel Napier, of Hyden, KY; and sisters, Corene Hale, of Elizabethtown, KY and Polly Anna Long, of Dayton, OH. A host of treasured nephews and nieces, other family, and friends also survive.  You may offer your condolences to the family @www.dwaynewalkerfuneralhome.com

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Hyden Masonic Lodge #664- C/O 291 Ridge Rd.-Thousandsticks, KY 41766 or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Kentucky-Indiana Chapter 225 - S. East St. Suite#280- Indianapolis, IN  46202

Visitation will be Monday, June 6, 2022, from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM at the Walker Funeral Chapel in Hyden, KY. Masonic Rites will be performed Monday at 7:00 PM. The funeral will be Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at 1:00 PM at the Walker Funeral Home Chapel in Hyden, KY.

Minister: Daryl Joseph and John Newell

Interment: Hurricane Cemetery

Pallbearers: Thomas Sizemore, Johnny Sizemore, Robbie Horton, Tanner Horton, Kevin Guier, Josh Griffith, Ryan Davidson, and Stewart Napier

Honorary Pallbearers: Robert Russell, Glen Mosley, Damon Huff, Woodrow Williams, William Lewis, Hiram Cornett

*DUE TO THE INCREASE IN COVID CASES, THE FAMILY RESPECTFULLY REQUESTS ALL THOSE ATTENDING THE VISITATION AND FUNERAL SERVICE TO WEAR MASKS!