After
77 action-packed years, the earthly journey of Daniel Everett Stewart
ended on August 8, 2023. Born on May 17th, 1946, into a large Catholic
family, Dan grew up in Louisville's West End near the corner of 38th and
Michigan, what is now Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
He
attended Flaget High School, but his time there was cut short after the
Flaget administration inexplicably found fault with Dan dangling his
homeroom teacher out a second-floor window, and forced his removal to
Shawnee High School, where he graduated in 1963. After successfully
navigating legendary scrapes and near-scrapes with the law, Dan's life
turned around when he joined Explorer Scout Post 198. Under the
guidance of the amazing Bill Fowler, Dan thrived and eventually became
troop Commander.
In
1966 Dan joined the Army Reserves, achieving the rank of Staff
Sergeant, and drilled recruits who would go on to fight in Vietnam. His
first design job was at American Standard in the industrial design
department, where he designed toilets and bidets, while also studying
engineering at Bellarmine University. He switched jobs to work for the
local PBS station as a graphic designer (sometimes donning a Big Bird
suit) and transferred to the Louisville School of Art. In 1972, just
prior to graduation, he dropped out of college to found the first
graphic design agency in Louisville, his first business acquisition with
his last dollar being a desk.
That
firm, having survived multiple name changes and existential crises, is
now widely renowned and simply called Stewart. Through Dan's guidance,
Stewart introduced corporate identity design – known today as branding –
to the regional business community and later to the equine and ag
industry nationwide. Stewart has since received awards from the
Advertising Club of Louisville (Louis Awards), the Society of
Typographic Arts, Communication Arts, Type Directors Club, the NAVC
(Vetty Awards) and the New York Art Directors Club (of which Dan was a
44-year member). The talent he recruited and trained help establish
Louisville's creative industry. In 2016, he was honored by the
Louisville Chapter of the AIGA as Pioneer and Talent Scout and was
officially named an Adopted Alumni of the University of Louisville.
In
the early 80's, for reasons only Dan could understand, he took up the
sport of team roping. Competing all over the country, he eventually
built a roping arena at his beloved Yankeetown Farm to host competitions
and became a founding producer of the newly created United States Team
Roping Championships and a national leader in advocating for the sport.
He was no slouch as a competitor, either, and went on to win many
competitions, including the Kentucky State Fair Team Roping in 1991,
1992, 1993 and 1994. Dan put together the (USTRC) eastern finals, and was instrumental in developing the roping industry in the west. As for team roping at large, he was the official second ad agency and really gave USTRC an identity in cowboy world. The second design on the original USTRC logo was Dan, he designed every membership card and advertising campaign for nearly twenty years. He was the architect of the TRIAD rebrand. He started with USTRC and Classic rope, and eventually had every major manufacturing company in the team roping industry.
Dan also played bass in the local cover band the
Kinetics, which emerged from the Post 198 community, opening for such
acts as B.B. King and Bo Diddley. Dan raised cattle and horses, built
boats and buildings, and never quit creating. He was the founder and
chairman of Iristrac, LLC, a company dedicated to revolutionizing
biometric animal identification using iris recognition technology.
Dan
was 20-year member of the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation board, an
8-year board member of National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
(Cowboy Hall of Fame) and an advisory board member of the Professional
Rodeo Cowboy Association.
Dan
will be remembered for his talent, creativity, unrelenting drive,
no-nonsense style and straight talk. He said what he thought, meant what
he said, and kept his word. He never stopped building, imagining,
creating and improving whatever he could. He is surely now at work
redesigning the Gates of Heaven.
Dan
is survived by his wife and business partner of 35 years, Kathryn
Stewart, his children Nathanial Stewart (Holly), Seth Stewart (Sarah),
Dani Stewart Haas (Matt), Zach Stewart and Gabe Stewart (Grace). He also
leaves behind his grandchildren Drue Stewart Poynter (Codey), Mason
Elmore, Julien Stewart (Sophia), Emma Haas, Scooter Stewart, Sadie
Stewart, Margeaux Stewart, Elliott Haas, Willow Stewart and Moss
Stewart, and great-grandson Holden Poynter.
Visitation
will take place Friday, August 18th between 3 and 8 PM and Saturday
August 19th between 9 and 11 AM at Scott Funeral Home 2515 Veterans
Pkwy, Jeffersonville, IN. A funeral mass will take place at 12 PM on
August 19th at St. Augustine Catholic Church, 315 E Chestnut St,
Jeffersonville, IN.
Dan
and his wife were long time supporters of the graphic design program at
the University of Louisville Hite Art Institute, believing that design
could change the lives of its proponents and the fortunes of its
beneficiaries. In lieu of flowers, please consider an expression of
sympathy with a donation to the "Daniel Stewart Scholarship in Design"
Fund at the University of Louisville or to your favorite charity. Checks
should be made out to UofL Foundation, Daniel Stewart Scholarship Fund
written in memo and mailed to University of Louisville, Inc, P.O. Box
772050, Chicago, IL 60677-2050, or make gifts at https://give.louisville.edu/stewart.
