Thomas Stewart McKeown

Stewart was born December 22, 1965, in Cut Knife Saskatchewan to Garry and Elizabeth McKeown. He went to school in Cut Knife where he was very active in any sport available.

Coming home from a hockey tournament with his teammates when he was 15, the van he was travelling in went off the road and rolled. Stewart was thrown out a window resulting in him being a paraplegic.

After graduating high school, he moved to Saskatoon to go to university where his sports life really took off. He joined a wheelchair basketball team and got involved with an amazing group of people in track & field. He met a man named Bishop who helped him get into throwing shot put and discus. He started competing and turned out he was pretty good. He qualified for the Paralympic Games in Seoul Korea in 1988 where he medalled in both events. He continued training and competing to qualify for the games in Spain in 1992. Due to a pressure sore, he wasn’t able to go, but he wasn’t done. During all of this competing in track and field he was still playing wheelchair basketball, turns out he was pretty good at that too. He earned a spot on the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball team that competed in the Paralympic Games in Atlanta Georgia in 1996. Stewart continued playing basketball for a few more years after the games but eventually moved into the coaching role. He got his coaching certificate and started coaching the Saskatchewan Wheelchair Basketball teams going to Canada Summer Games. His last sports adventure was stick curling, which you guessed it, also pretty good at. He would practice in Saskatoon 2-3 times a week and drive to Moose Jaw to practice with the team. This team competed in a National event.

Stewart met the love of his life Michele 3 weeks before he left for Seoul in 1988. Before he left, he asked her “Will you be here when I get back?” She told him she was already in love with him and would marry him someday if he asked. They were married May 12, 1990. They lived in Saskatoon but neither of them liked the city, so they moved to their acreage in the fall of 1997. Stewart loved his acreage and managed to talk his wife into getting 6 Golden Retrievers over the years, he really loved his dogs.

Stewart worked at a few different jobs over the years, Bank of Montreal, Credit Union, Wheelchair sports, Home Depot, and Vallen. He liked his jobs, he loved the people.

Stewart is survived by his wife, Michele, his sister Lesley (Joe) and 3 children in Calgary AB, sister, Tracy (Quinton) in Nanaimo BC, sister, Heather (Daryl) and 2 children in Baldwinton, SK.

If you knew Stewart, you loved him. If you didn’t know him, we are very sorry you missed out on a remarkable man. He was witty, a great listener, solid advisor, true friend, amazing sense of humor, inspiring, courageous, resilient, generous and determined. Stewart loved life and everyone around. We are all better people because of him.

In honor of Stewarts final wishes there will not be a service. He wanted his ashes to be spread at home on his acreage.

“Anytime you are watching any sport with a puck, ball, rock, or track & field raise you glass and think of me.”

Cheers,

Stewart