STEWART THOMAS SCOFIELD

March 26, 1948 - April 19, 2008

Stewart Thomas Scofield, a long time resident of Bodega Bay, Sonoma
County, California, died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home on
Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Stewart was born in Gary, Indiana on March 26, 1948 and raised in
Hobart, Indiana. Stewart received a BA in Psychology from Grinnell
College, Iowa in 1970. After graduation Stewart remained in Iowa,
working for his alma mater, Grinnell. During this period he was
instrumental in organizing Grinnell's Gay/Lesbian/Queer community and
became a co-founder of RFD magazine, a pioneering publication for the
rural gay community which continues to be published today.

In the mid-70's Stewart moved to California. He first tried the
southland and Santa Barbara before finding his true home in the
greater San Francisco Bay Area. Stewart received his Masters degree
in Library Science from UC Berkeley in 1979.

He lived in San Francisco for much of the 80's and his deep affection
for The City never diminished, even after he moved north. From 1980
to 1992 he and his first partner, Don Maharg owned and operated City
Terrace Landscapes and Gardens, a small landscaping business
specializing in delightful small backyards in San Francisco. During
1983-84 Stewart also managed the Grubstake II, as he put it "a small
but crazy 24-hour gay restaurant."

After he, Donnie and their dogs Madeleine and Nugget relocated to
Bodega Bay, and after Donnie died, Stewart began working with Food
For Thought, The Sonoma County AIDS Food Bank (FFT), first as a
volunteer in 1990, before being put on the payroll of the fledgling
service organization in 1991. Stewart was initially hired to be a
part time Food Drive Coordinator, a position which, over a few years,
morphed into full time Volunteer Coordinator; the position he held
until his death. FFT serves 550 clients and Stewart was responsible
for recruiting, training, scheduling and acknowledging over 500
volunteers for all aspects of FFT's activities, including staffing at
the Forestville facility, food deliveries to clients, bi-weekly
supermarket food drives and four major fund-raising events each year.
Stewart was also the copy editor and primary producer of FFT's semi-
monthly newsletter, The Dish.

Stewart was a dynamic and highly effective Volunteer Coordinator who
was not only able to convince individual people to give of their time
and energy, but to inspire those volunteers to recruit their friends
and family as well. In 1995 Stewart was named Outstanding Volunteer
Coordinator in Sonoma County. In addition, he shepherded a record
number of FFT volunteers to Silver Bowl awards for Volunteer of the
Year.

 From 1991 until 2006 Stewart organized the carrying of a giant
Rainbow Flag in the San Francisco and Sonoma County Pride Parades.
The huge flag was a defining symbol of the parades as well as being a
dependable fund raiser for FFT.

In the early 90's Stewart was instrumental in organizing the annual
AIDS Candlelight Memorial Marches, a project particularly dear to his
heart. It was at the 1994 Candlelight March that Stewart, a long-time
survivor of AIDS, was presented with the Jeremy Bell Award for
Community Service by a Person with HIV. Stewart then became involved
with the nomination and selection of subsequent Jeremy Bell Award
recipients.

Besides his job at FFT, Stewart volunteered time and energy to many
other service organizations, among them, the HIV Speakers Bureau,
Face to Face/ Sonoma County AIDS Network, PAWS and the Healing AIDS
Newsletter. One of the projects he was most proud of was his role as
Host Committee Member/Volunteer Coordinator for the Santa Rosa
display of The NAMES Quilt Project in 1994.

In July, 2003 the Russian River Chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence honored Stewart's dedication to community service by
officially anointing him "Saint Stewart.'

Throughout 2003-04 Stewart worked on the Sonoma County AIDS
Leadership Academy helping to organize a year-long training which
graduated a class of future community activists in September, 2004.
While working on that project, Stewart and Everett Charters (with
cameraman Paul Schwartz) produced the film Where Would We Be Without
You: A Video History of AIDS Activism in Sonoma County, which
includes a video interview with Stewart. As a follow up to this
endeavor, Stewart continued to videotape interviews with scores of
early activists and participants as an ongoing oral history project.

In 1991 Stewart became involved with The Billy Club, a Ukiah-based
nonprofit organization created initially as a way to distribute HIV
prevention and service information to a scattered rural gay
population. It has since evolved into a major support group for
northern California gay and bi-sexual men. He joined the Board of
Directors soon after The Billy Foundation was created and eventually
became its second President.

During his record five years in office, Stewart became for many the
face of The Billy Club and the embodiment of its principals. Many
remember his provocative talent show performances at gatherings
(especially his "acid-washed" jeans) as well as his annual telling of
the story of the group's founding, for which he developed the persona
of the beloved "Uncle Stewart."

Stewart was a powerful, persuasive writer whose longtime column, "Off
The Wall," for Sonoma County's late LGBT newspaper, We The People,
was a highlight of each issue. With his trademark wit and surefire
ability to cut through to the core of an issue, his columns were
often controversial and seldom ignored. Stewart also composed utterly
uninhibited poetry and prose, of which he was a spirited performer.
During his last years he was engaged in extensive research and
writing for his magnum opus, "Urinalia: a Social Look at Men and
Pissing." Stewart's research for this book took him across the
country and to Europe. In a recent interview with the online magazine
Urban Molecule, Stewart described his project as "a book that looks
at men and urination from the points of view of history, rites and
rituals, psychology, mythology, social customs and biology." More
information on this project, and a survey, can be found on his web
site, http://www.urinesurvey.com/thebook.htm.

In his final few years Stewart had been an active and enthusiastic
volunteer in the Sonoma County CASA program, helping to mentor
troubled young people and shepherd them through the legal system.

To everything Stewart did he brought passion, skill and dedication,
but just as important he brought a sublime wit and mischievous sense
of fun, all guided by his profound integrity.

Stewart was predeceased by his mother, Janice Briska Scofield, his
father, Milton Robert Scofield , his sister, Nancy and his first
partner, Donnie Maharg.

He is survived by his brother Peter Scofield of Vero Beach, Florida,
his nieces, Erica Royce McDaniel of Loveland, Colorado and Mariza
Royce Anderson of Spokane, Washington, his cousin, Sue West of
Oakland CA, his second partner, Patrick Ennis and many, many friends.

A celebration of Stewart's life will be held on Sunday, May 25, 2008,
beginning at 1:30 PM at Congregation Ner Shalom, 85 La Plaza, Cotati
(directions available at http://www.nershalom.org/contact/
directions.html). Aloha wear (Hawaiian shirts) is encouraged. In lieu
of flowers, donations to Food For Thought, The Sonoma County AIDS
Food Bank are suggested.

(( obit from Billenet email of 5/1/08 ))