Walter Stewart “Stew” Calder III, USAF CMSGT (retired)
June 17, 1927 – July 22, 2025
Stew Calder, born June 17, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah passed away peacefully in his own home after a sweet evening with the love of his life. He had lived his 98 years to the fullest! He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Evelyn Clark Calder; daughter, Deborah Robinson (Chuck); five grandchildren; and two great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by three sisters, seven brothers, and two sons, Walter Stewart Calder IV and William Calder.
Stew grew up in a happy home with his brothers as his best friends. He served in the army for three years near the end of WWII in the Philippines. He earned a commercial pilot’s license through the GI Bill and spent several years crop dusting in the Sacramento valley before being recalled from the reserves to serve in the Korean War. Realizing he was meant for the military life he then enlisted in the Air Force as an air traffic controller for the rest of his 33 year military career. It was during this time he served in Viet Nam and distinguished himself earning a Bronze Star and other military honors. He was always well respected by his commanders, peers, and those he led.
His and Evelyn’s lifetime love story began in 1960 on a ski slope near Madrid, Spain and marrying in Gibraltar. His Air Force career took him to Oregon, Colorado, Japan, Spain, North Africa, New York, Panama, Montana, and Omaha, Nebraska before retirement at Lake Tahoe in 1978. He was a fantastic father to his three children giving them every opportunity imaginable and participating in their sports and other activities.
During his retirement Stew immersed himself in the Lake Tahoe community building cabinets, being the “jack of all trades” at the local golf course, and eventually building custom golf clubs. He was an avid snow skier, water skier, hunter, fly-fisherman, and golfer. He spent several years back in his home state of Utah supporting other family members before finally settling in Cloverdale, CA for the past nineteen years.
Persistent and determined are two words that describe him well as Stew spent his whole life learning how to do whatever he wanted done! He built his own custom home while raising children and serving in the Air Force, took lessons and taught himself how to play the guitar, learned to build computers, and spent many years being the “pit crew” for his quadriplegic son to race in a wheel chair. It seemed there was nothing he was unable to accomplish with his persistence and determination.
Anyone who ever met Stew knew he always loved telling the stories of his many experiences at home and abroad. It was a family legend that he would never let the truth get in the way of a good story! He always loved an audience! Stew will be sorely missed by all those who knew and loved him.
