Mr. Officer  #22

On Thursday, I attended a celebration of life mass for a man who I have fond memories of from my earlier years in Presque Isle. A man that took his responsibilities seriously, and at the same time had a great deal of compassion for those around him.

Harold Stewart, or “Bud” as he was known, was well known in Presque Isle. He had done just about everything in his lifetime. He served his country, not once but twice. He was a father, a grandfather and a champion for folks who needed him. Yes, Bud was a local attorney in Presque Isle. He dedicated his life to helping those in need. He was a tall man that could put fear in your heart just by looking at him, but as you got to know him, you found that much of that was just a mask of his true identity, a caring smart man just wanting to be your friend.

Now, you might ask why I am writing about Bud, when most of my blogs are about the outdoors. Well Bud enjoyed the outdoors and enjoyed fly fishing. But the memories I have of Bud are not about fly fishing, no, it was more along the lines of how I met him. As I sat listening to his son, Hal, talk about his father, I smiled as I recalled how I first met him and how the meetings would go time after time.

See, many years ago, thirty one to be exact, I was a law enforcement officer for the City of Presque Isle. I was new to the City having just moved here to take that position. As a greenhorn, you were always the one to bear the brunt of the jokes by the older officer, and I was no exception. I hadn’t been on the job for more than 3 months when I was called to court for my first trial. I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was a traffic case where a guy had run a stop sign and I had ticketed him.  As the trial list came around, I noticed that he had pled not guilty and was being represented by Harold Stewart. At that time, I had no idea who Harold Stewart was. However, my fellow officers let me know that I was in for a rough time and to be very prepared as “Bud” would rip me to pieces once I got on the stand to testify. That rhetoric continued up until the day of trial. I showed up at the appointed time and took my place on the stand. The Assistant District Attorney walked me through the questions he had and then told the judge, who was Julian Turner, that he had no further questions of me. During my testimony and out of the corner of my eye, I had been watching this very tall dark haired man sitting at the defendants table. He had his glasses on the table and a yellow pad of paper in front of him. He had never looked up at me during my whole testimony, instead keeping his head down, while all the time seemingly writing on the pad. If you think, my fellow officers had prepped me to be afraid of him that was just an understatement of how I was feeling at that time. Judge Turner, then let it be known that it was time for cross examination and he said, Mr. Stewart, it is your witness. Bud did not move from his chair nor did he look at me for what felt like an eternity. Then all of a sudden, he picked up his glasses, rose from the table and walked over to where I was seated on the witness stand. With his glasses in hand, he began to ask me questions about what I had testified to. I was shaking all the while as he went through what felt like a long list of questions that I thought he had been writing down. As he approached the end of his questions, he stopped and said” Now Mr. Officer, he said this every time I had a trial with him. Do you expect the court to believe what you have told us? And do you want to stand on the testimony you have given this court today? My answer was Yesssss Sir. Then his final words were, do you know the penalty for perjury? Again, my answer was yes. He then backed up and gave me a very long stare with his dark eyes and looked at the judge and said, no further questions, your honor.

I had a hard time getting out of that chair, I was so scared. The judge dismissed me and I walked by Bud to where I was sitting. After the trial was over I left the court and was in the outer room, when Bud came walking out with a big smile on his face. He saw me and came right over and extended his hand to me saying you did a great job in there young fellow. I am proud of you. I have never forgotten those words to this day. What appeared to be a very tough, gruff man had taken the time to come see me and to tell me that I had done ok. From that day, on Bud and I met on a number of other cases and each time he used the same tactics as the first time I had met him. But it never had the same effect as the first time and I knew that after it was over, he would be my friend again.

I have watched his son, Hal; follow in his father footsteps, first working alongside his father as an attorney, and then taking over the family business. Hal is cut from the same cloth that his dad was and has a lot of the same qualities. In my mind, the legacy continues to live on.

May you rest in peace, Bud.