Paul A. Stewart III, 78-year-old Kansas Chief reporter/photographer since 2005, passed away on December 16, 2022. He became ill in 2021 and was diagnosed with Leukemia. He had been residing at Wathena Healthcare.
Paul was a dedicated Chief reporter and occasionally penned the column "Paul's Pondering."
Born in St. Joseph, Mo., on Aug. 10, 1944, he was the son of Paul A. II and Barbara Hart Stewart. He attended St. Mary’s and St. Francis Xavier elementary schools, was a Class of 1962 graduate of the former Christian Brothers High School,and attended the former St. Joseph Junior College.
After graduating from high school, he was employed for 28 years for the St. Joseph Gazette morning newspaper, serving one year as the editor of the Fact Finder column on the News-Press staff. Over the years he shared many of his experiences with those who wanted to listen including coverage of the unsolved 1981 murder of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore, Mo., the kidnapping and slaying of two children taken from the downtown mall in St. Joseph in the 1980’s, and the Rulo, Neb., cult slayings.
He also penned two books, his initial effort being “A Reporter’s Notebook,” about some of his experiences while serving as a police beat reporter for The Gazette.
Prior to becoming a reporter for The Kansas Chief in 2005, he was also a reporter/photographer for the former St. Joseph Telegraph weekly newspaper.
He was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wathena, as well as the Ma-Hush-Ka (White Cloud) historical society.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his uncle, Dave Hart, who taught school in Wathena and Elwood.
He is survived by a sister, Janice Kendall, of Lincoln, Neb., and an uncle, Jack Stewart, of Taylors, S.C., nephews, cousins and friends.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Wathena Friday, Dec. 30, at 10:00 a.m. His cremains will be buried next to his mother at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph.
