William Churchill Stewart, 49; Psychotherapist, `World Citizen'

William Churchill Stewart loved people and knowledge, a combination that took him to many countries, through several careers, and into the hearts of countless friends.

Mr. Stewart, a Seattle psychotherapist formerly of New York City, Philadelphia and the Netherlands, died Wednesday (Dec. 25). He was 49.

"He was one of those people God lavished a lot of gifts on," said Arthur Jay Marcus, Mr. Stewart's longtime companion.

Mr. Stewart excelled at science, languages, making friends and teaching.

Mr. Stewart was born in the Bronx to Ann Stewart and the late Raymond Stewart.

"From the moment he was born, he was full of life and the quest for knowledge and enjoying every moment," said Ann Stewart.

Her son's love and care of his little sister, the late Margaret Ann, was legendary, Ann Stewart said. His sister contracted polio as a child.

"He used to stand by the carriage and watch her and say, `You know, she's moving her eyes,' " said Mr. Stewart's mother. Later, Mr. Stewart took his sister and her wheelchair to Europe so she could see the world, too.

At 14, Mr. Stewart joined the LaSalle Academy of the Christian Brothers, a French monastic order, in Rhinebeck, N.Y. He studied with the Christian Brothers until graduating from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., at 22.

"He wanted to be in the religious order and teach," Marcus said. "As a psychotherapist, his calling was that he was giving confession in a secular way, in a worldly fashion."

After graduating, Mr. Stewart served two years in the Air Force. He was assigned to a medical unit in Washington, D.C., where he studied hematology and became interested in nuclear medicine, the use of radiation to analyze and treat disease.

Mr. Stewart continued studying nuclear medicine at the University of Passau in Germany, and in Philadelphia and Boston. He took many medical courses but did not graduate from medical school, instead choosing to learn the field from scientist mentors.

As an application engineer for Baird Atomic, a medical-technology company, Mr. Stewart lived in Amsterdam, Netherlands, for two years and traveled extensively in Europe.

He learned to speak Dutch fluently and once gave a scientific speech in Dutch. Everybody laughed, not because his Dutch was bad, but rather, because all the other scientists - even the Dutch ones - spoke English.

"He was one of those people, citizens of the world," Marcus said of Mr. Stewart, who spoke seven languages: French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, English and Latin.

About 10 years ago, Mr. Stewart became disillusioned with medicine. "He was dealing with people who didn't want to change their lifestyle, their diet, their habits, to help themselves," Marcus said. "He wanted to care for those who truly wanted to care for themselves . . . He wanted to deal with people's souls."

After studying with mentors at the Institute for Integrative Psychoanalysis in New York City, Mr. Stewart practiced psychotherapy there for seven years. He moved to Seattle two years ago because he liked the unpretentious people, the rain, the greenness. It reminded him of Amsterdam, and Ireland, his ancestral homeland.

In addition to his mother and Marcus, Mr. Stewart is survived by brother James Stewart and nieces Roseann and Annmarie.

Resurrection Mass was held at St. James Cathedral Saturday. Burial is in Gates of Heaven Cemetery, Valhalla, NY.

A memorial Mass will be at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on Feb. 1. Memorials are suggested to 5 West Nurses Station, Swedish Hospital, Seattle.