James Stewart, 92, of Green Brook, NJ and a long-time resident of Rahway, NJ, died January 10, 2025 at home after a brief illness.

Called “Jim” by his family and friends, he was born on November 6, 1932 along with his twin brother Harry to Alexander Parker Stewart and Marion Scott Stewart in Bellshill, Scotland, U.K. He attended Bellshill Academy and graduated in 1948. Jim then became an apprentice fitter at the Belmos Company in Bellshill.

After completing his apprenticeship in November 1953 he worked for the Morton Machine Company in Wishaw, Scotland and then began what would be a long career as a machinist when he joined Imperial Chemical Industries in 1955.

He worked at ICI until October 1956 when he followed his brother in emigrating to the United States of America, arriving in New York City on the RMS Queen Mary. He soon began working as a machine repair machinist at General Motors’ New Departure Hyatt Bearing Division factory in Clark, NJ in November 1956.

Then in February 1957, he was drafted into the United States Army and reported for training at Fort Dix in New Jersey. He was honorably discharged on April 19, 1957 and returned to work at New Departure Hyatt, where he was a member of the United Auto Workers Union Local 736 and enjoyed playing in the employee golf and bowling leagues.

Jim lived in various places in New Jersey when he first arrived the U.S., and eventually settled in North Arlington, NJ near the thriving Scottish and Irish immigrant community in Kearny. It was there that he met the love of his life, Sheila King, who had emigrated from Lancashire, England in July 1964.

Jim and Sheila married on June 3, 1967 and were together nearly 57 years until Sheila’s passing on February 9, 2024. They lived in North Arlington and then moved to Linden, NJ before settling in Rahway in 1973. They lived in Rahway until moving to Green Brook in the early 2000s. They were active members of the Second Presbyterian Church in Rahway and later attended the Reformed Church of Linden.

In November 1981, New Departure Hyatt was bought out by it’s employees after GM decided to close the plant. The new company was re-named Hyatt Clark Industries, and was one of the first employee-owned companies in the country. Jim worked on a program established to rebuild and update the plants aging equipment and also build new equipment designed by Hyatt. Jim moved on to work at Revlon in Edison, NJ in May 1987 and stayed there for five years. He finished his career at Frigidaire, also in Edison, where his much-younger co-workers affectionately called him “Pappy” during his five years there.

After retiring from Frigidaire, Jim enjoyed playing golf, particularly with his son’s father-in-law Ray Alimo, and he took a part-time job at a driving range in Green Brook. Jim enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, particularly by attending all their sports games and his granddaughters’ dance recitals and competitions. Jim and Sheila also loved the Jersey Shore, regularly vacationing in Cape May, NJ and then in later years Beach Haven, NJ.

Jim is survived by his son, Andrew J. Stewart, his wife Cynthia, grandchildren Connor, Erin and Devin Stewart, all of Bridgewater, NJ and great-nieces Kennedy and Molly Fratto of Warren, NJ. Jim is also survived by his dear twin cousins Mary Stewart and Helen Middlemiss, Helen’s husband Kerr, all of Arbroath, Scotland, and Helen and Kerr’s sons Derek and Ross.

In addition, Jim is survived by many nieces and nephews throughout the world including Nick King and Richard King of Lancashire, England and Marion Reid of Alberta, Canada.

A celebration of life will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2025 from 3-6pm at the Branchburg Funeral Home, 910 Rt. 202 South, Branchburg, NJ 08876.

In lieu of flowers please consider making donations to St. Jude Children's Hospital https://www.stjude.org/ or Somerset County on Aging and Disability Services - Nutrition Program ( Meals on Wheels) P.O. Box 3000 Somerville, NJ 08876-1262