Lt. Col. Kevin M. Stuart

[NIN]

[I searched for this one and came up dry. I only found out at the NER Conference that my old friend Kevin Stuart passed away last September. It made me sad that Kevin's passing hadn't been noted anyplace but an "in memorium" slide show at the conference. He was a very longtime CAP member and AF veteran, and had been a frequent and vocal contributor to the old CAP-Talk and CAP-Cadet mailing lists that were the historical antecedents to the CAPTalk and CadetStuff forum boards. I wasn't living in New England a week back in 1998 before I got a call from Kevin, a guy I only knew from emails:  "Hey, they boy and I are headed down to Boston for haircuts and lunch, you want to tag along?"  What followed was a great introduction to a city I'd never spent any time in, and a long friendship with Kevin.  He will be missed.]




Kevin M. Stuart, 69 died peacefully late Sunday night, September 4, 2022 at the Springfield Health and Rehabilitation Center in Springfield, VT.

Kevin was born August 26, 1953, in Worcester, MA to Roman and Doris (Cassidy) Stuart. His brother, James G. Stuart, passed away in 2019. He attended Worcester schools, graduating from Burncoat High School in 1971.

He then began a long military career. Enlisting in the US Air Force late in the Vietnam War, he served as a Crew Chief on B52 Bombers while stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, Rome, NY. Kevin later transferred to the Air Force Reserves, then the Massachusetts and Vermont Air National Guard.

Kevin and his first wife, Lee Ann, had a son, Michael, in 1980. They later divorced. Kevin met Martha Haynes while on a NATO training deployment in Turkey in 1989; they married and moved to Hartford, VT, in 1990.

Kevin served his country in the Air Force for 36 years in many roles. These included time in the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 101st Air Control Squadron, Worcester; the 102nd Fighter Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Cape Cod; and, in 2003, the Vermont Air National Guard. Volunteering during the Iraq War, he was deployed to Iraq as a Chaplain Assistant in 2006. Extremely proud of his service, he retired with the rank of Master Sargent in 2007.

When not on active duty, Kevin worked in computer operations, including nearly 10 years with Green Mountain Power. He later became a dispatcher for the Hartford Emergency Communications Center, worked at the VA Hospital in Hartford, and retired from his final job as the VFW Service Officer in 2013. Primarily committed to the Air Force, he volunteered for active duty whenever given the opportunity. He was active with the Civil Air Patrol for over 50 years and was a life member of the Lyman Pell American Legion Post in Norwich, VT, and VFW Post #2571 in Hartford.

Kevin and Martha loved dogs and had many over the years. Recently they volunteered as foster parents for Long Trail Canine Rescue.

Kevin will have calling hours from 3-6pm at The O'Connor Brothers Funeral Home in Worcester, MA, on October 5, followed by a service from 6-7pm. His burial will take place with honors the following day at the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, MA, at 2:30pm.

Condolences to his family may be left at an online guestbook at www.knightfuneralhomes.com Contributions may be made to charities serving veterans.