Obituary of James R. Stewart Sr.

James Richard Stewart Sr passed away peacefully with his two children by his side.   Jim was a lifelong resident of the town of Burlington.  He was born in Boston in 1934.  His parents were the late Alfred and Rita (Lawrence) Stewart.  Jim was one of 5 siblings the late Leo, Billy, Bobby and Ronnie, they all grew up together in Roxbury.

 In 1952 Jim met his future wife, Priscilla (Pat) Leslie.  Pat and Jim adored each other and dated till Jim enlisted in the Army in 1954.  They wrote to each other and were married upon his return.  In 1962 they bought their first home in Burlington where they would raise their 2 children.  

Jim always had a passion for horses and especially horse racing.  In 1969 he bought his first Thoroughbred racehorse.  Jim built a barn and corrals behind his Burlington home; the barn and facilities were later to be recognized by the state of Ma and Suffolk Downs the barn was registered as Burl hill Farm.   He went on to breed, raise and train many successful racehorses, starting them out at his small backyard farm.

 Jim was also the owner of Environmental Consulting Services and a member of Local 33 Roofers union. In his spare time Jim also had a passion for law, he loved reading law books and assisting in legal matters as an expert witness in asbestos cases and others. In the mid 60’s Jim owned and operated his own restaurant in Boston “Mr. Takeout”.

 In Jim’s spare time he loved to be around his family. He and the family would drive down to Florida and spend time with Pat’s sister Carol and her family.  He loved to have his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren over for the holidays, and for barbecues at the pool.  He was always very proud of all of them and always did whatever he could to be there to help no matter what the situation was.

Jim was the beloved husband to his late wife, Priscilla (Pat) Stewart. He was the loving father to Karen Cirrone of Burlington, and James Stewart Jr. of Salem, NH.  Jim was the proud grandfather of Thomas Cirrone, Richard Cirrone, and James Cirrone, James Stewart III, Tara Darak and her husband Beau and the late Ryan Stewart. He was the dear great-grandfather of Kendall, Weston, Ryder, Rowan, Ruby, Richard, Kaliahna and Joseph.  Jim cherished his late sister-in-law Carol Ann Thorne of Fla. Jim was also the proud uncle of Beverly Burke and the late John Burke and his wife Lysa and their children Connor and Logan all of Fla. 

A visitation will be held at the Edward V Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., Burlington on Saturday, July 29 from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.  Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Margaret’s Church, in St. Veronica Parish, 111 Winn Street, Burlington, MA 01803. at 10 a.m.   Burial to follow at Chestnut Hill Cemetery, 52 Bedford Street, Burlington, MA 01803.