AUBURN – Leroy M. Stewart, 89, of Auburn, died Saturday, Sept. 10, at his home with family by his side.

He was born in Randolph, Mass., Dec. 14, 1915. He graduated in 1934 in the depths of the Depression.

He was a member of the Masons in Cornerstone Lodge, Boston, since 1953.

He began his career as a shipfitter in 1937 at a yard in Quincy, Mass., before World War II. Since then he helped build Navy ships ranging from wooden-decked carriers to modern guided missile destroyers like the one he helped launch on Oct. 4, 1997, the USS Higgins, upon his retirement after 60 years.

For more than 20 years he went from shipyard to shipyard, finally ending up at Bath Iron Works in 1968 where he was a legend known as the “Colonel.”

He married Dorothy Washburn on Sept. 29, 1963, his wife of 41 years.

Besides his wife, he is survived by three daughters and one son, all of Massachusetts; three stepsons and one stepdaughter, all of Maine; 10 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by one daughter of Massachusetts.

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