MANCHESTER – Dr. Howard Nau Stewart, MD, 100, passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 8, 2024, at his home in Manchester surrounded by his family.

He was born on July 17, 1924, in Minneapolis, Minn. to Howard Roberts Stewart and Gertrude Nau Stewart. He grew up in Massachusetts until age 7 when his father died. His mother returned to her native Koblenz, Germany with her three young children. Howard attended elementary and high school there. WWII brought unforeseen challenges and hardships which influenced him to become a physician. His class mates were drafted but as an American citizen Howard was spared but conscripted to work as a farm laborer. At the end of the war he was able to return to school and graduated with the Abitur degree.

He was 19 when his mother and two sisters returned to the United States where they settled in Arlington, Va. Howard was drafted, and served in the US Army in Friedberg, Germany. After honorable discharge he started his secondary education at George Washington University in Washington DC and the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville, Va. where he graduated in 1957. Following his internship at Cincinnati General Hospital and general practice at Miners Memorial Hospital in West Virginia he took some time to study the German medical system in Flensburg and Kiel in Northern Germany. He met his wife, Christiane, on New Year’s Eve 1962 at Gluecksburg Castle at the Baltic Sea coast. They were married in 1964 and started their life together in Arlington, Va. Howard began his specialty training in orthopedic surgery at George Washington University in Washington DC. They were blessed with three precious children.

After board certification Howard worked as Chief of Orthopedics at the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, W.Va. until 1977. He then joined the Air Force and was assigned to the orthopedic service at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base in Washington DC with rank of Lt. Colonel. The opportunity for a quieter life in Maine opened up when the Togus VA Medical Center advertised the position of Chief of Orthopedics. This was Howard’s place of work from 1981 until retirement in 2009.

Howard was an avid promoter of physical fitness throughout his life and set a good example. He exercised daily, was an excellent swimmer – butterfly stroke competitively at GWU – and played soccer into his seventies. Howard had a passion for paintings and sculptures. For many years he took art classes at the Round Top Art Center in Damariscotta. He and Chris enjoyed visiting art museums in the US and Europe. Howard was a diverse reader, from Shakespeare and Lord Byron to Henning Mankell mysteries. He could still recite long passages from Hamlet and Julius Caesar at age 99.

Howard was a devoted husband and father and will be sadly missed by his wife of 60 years, Christiane; and his beloved children Dirk and his wife Christen, Erik and his wife Sandra and Ulrike (Uli) and her husband Jay; and four nephews.

Howard was preceded in death by his parents and his two sisters Inez G. Berthold and Mary F. Stewart.

We sincerely thank our faithful support group of Beacon Hospice, Dakota, Laila, Meagan, Michelle and Blair.

There will be no public service.

In lieu of flowers Howard would be pleased

if you plant a tree