Remembering Stewie
Stewart Patterson didn’t wake up on Saturday, having died at the age of 66 of an apparent heart attack through the night. His death was a shock to his friends and caregivers who had spoken to him the day before, when he seemed to be in good health.
Stewie, as he was known to most, had lived in Creemore for decades, a regular on the main street where he would visit shops or sit on a bench, often with a coffee in hand, chatting to passersby. He seemed to know everyone.
Stewie talked a lot about his mother and life on the farm, a blend of fact and fiction.
He had recently moved to Collingwood but was in Creemore for the Santa Claus parade, having been ferried by his old pal Brian Doran.
“He was helping me direct traffic but I think he was more here for the social side,” said Doran. “He was actually causing a traffic problem because everyone would stop to talk to him.”
Like most people, Doran said he met Stewie on the street.
“He’d tell everyone the same stories, just a little bit different each time,” he said.
“He knew every dog’s name and he’d pet every dog he’d ever seen,” said Doran. “He could drive down a road and the next day he’d tell you who lived on that road. It was pretty amazing, some of the observations he’d come up with.”
Stewie had rented a small house on Collingwood Street from Bob Ransier for 23 years.
“It takes a village to raise a Stewie, that’s what I tell people,” he said.
“There was a lot of truth to the stories he told, just that they were fictitious,” he said, recounting how Stewie knew the names of all horses and racetracks. “He would tell you stories that you’d believe them all if you didn’t know him.”
In addition to some kind of cognitive disability, Stewie had Parkinson’s disease.
He grew up in foster care and later went to live with a family near Singhampton, where he developed his farming skills.
He liked being out on a job with Ransier, mending fences, bush hogging and operating the backhoe.
“He was well loved and he was a good worker,” said Ransier.
He said people regularly dropped off clothing, boots and supplies. His house was equipped with a microwave so Stewie could heat up meals that people cooked for him. Ransier said his freezer was stocked with all kinds of meals ready to be heated up.
In his younger years, Ransier said, Stewie would hitchhike to Stayner to visit his mother, who died in 2012.
After leaving Ransier’s house, Stewie stayed with Ginny Smith and her family while she helped him secure housing for him with E3 services in Collingwood. The intent was for him to come back to town if he could find something he could afford.
Smith said she is grateful to E3 for helping him find a place to live, providing meals and getting him to appointments, etc…
“They were all very invested, and really caring with him, and worked very hard to advocate for him,” said Smith.
“He was doing great. He reconnected with a bunch of people he knew from when he’d lived in Collingwood before. He gave staff a real hard time and laughed about it every day,” she said, chuckling.
Smith said he had a great roommate and he was doing well. His financial affairs and services were in order.
“Things had really turned around for the best for him. It’s very heartbreaking,” said Smith. “I just want to thank those people who, when he lost his home, stepped up and helped. There were quite a few people who provided the basics like clothing and food for him.”
She said Stewie was quite pleased that Lorna May was still bringing him sandwiches and liquorice to his new home in Collingwood. May saw Stewie every Friday, with deliveries of his favourite egg salad sandwiches and treats from the food bank.
Image: MK Lynde photographed Stewie over the years, including the one on the front page and this one of him in his happy place, working on the farm, in 2015.
