Stewart B. Oneglia

Stewart Berry Preston Oneglia (“Stew”) died on December 9, 2022, in Bethesda, Maryland, of natural causes following a sudden decline. She was surrounded by her loving family and was able to communicate with all of her grandchildren before her death. She was a fifth-generation native-born Washingtonian and active in local and national politics.

Stew was a lifelong feminist, humanist, intellectual, human rights advocate, explorer, and card-carrying Democrat. She lived her values through her professional and volunteer work and strongly influenced the way her colleagues, friends, children, and grandchildren saw the world.

Never one to stand still, throughout her life Stew was a passionate traveler visiting more than 90 countries. Travel was her activity of choice. While she valued beauty and grace, the travel she preferred brought her to places and to meet people in extraordinary and challenging conditions. She was often joined by her children, grandchildren, and friends on meaningful journeys both epic and local. Her travels brought her to Easter Island, Chile, where she had an opportunity to dine with Anita Hill. She adored Morocco and traveled there many times.

One journey both epic and local was her decision to take her young children to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The atmosphere in Washington leading up to the March was tense. Violence and bloodshed was predicted. Businesses and government offices shuttered their doors as the demonstrators gathered. Stew was outraged at the misconception being created. She said she wanted her children to bear witness and she wanted to demonstrate her confidence in the tenets of non-violence. This decision was bold and exceptional for the times.

Stew was born on February 10, 1936. She grew up in Kensington and Chevy Chase, Maryland, and attended The Academy of the Holy Cross and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. On June 18, 1955, she married Richard K. Preston, at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, DC. Tragically, she lost her first two children, Adaire Elizabeth and Richard “Rikki” Knowlton, Jr., to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. She survived these grievous losses and had three more children.

Stew and her family lived in College Park while she was studying at the University of Maryland. As a student/wife/mother, she opened her home to many foreign students that allowed for a “salon” where intellectual and philosophical ideas were exchanged. She sought out individuals who were from abroad, many of whom had been displaced. Her living rooms were full of cigarette smoke, coffee, laughter, and chianti and populated with friends from Lithuania, India, Ceylon, Palestine, Argentina, Nigeria and more.

Following graduation from the University of Maryland College Park with a BA in journalism in 1959, Stew became more active in politics. She was the first female president of the Young Democrats of Prince George’s County and, later, the state of Maryland. Stew was a press and legislative aide to Steny Hoyer when he was in the Maryland State Senate. She was a legislative assistant to Congressman Hervey G. Machen in 1964 and the Director of Public Relations at the Prince George’s Community College. She organized local civil rights protests and demonstrations during the turbulent 1960’s. During this time, she attended the University of Maryland School of Law, commuting to Baltimore by motorcycle. There, she met her second husband, Nelson M. Oneglia. She continued her political activities into her 70s traveling to Toledo, Ohio, to knock on doors as a canvasser for Barack Obama in 2008.

Stew was elected to the Orphan’s Court of Prince George’s County in 1973 while still in law school and gained experience running for political office. She was a founding member of the Prince George’s County Women’s Bar Association. Upon graduation from law school in 1974, she represented women who were victims of domestic violence. She wanted to use law as a tool but the laws were flawed. She fought to change the laws that failed to protect the victims of abuse. She became prominent as a feminist expert in this area in the 1970s. She appeared on TV, radio, and print media and lectured nationwide as an national expert on the topic. She was appointed to serve on the Maryland Governor's Task Force on Family Law and on the Advisory Panel on Sexual Harassment. She was also appointed to the Governor's Commission to Implement the Equal Rights Amendment.

She joined the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1977 as the Director of the Task Force on Sex Discrimination. The Task Force reviewed all federal statutes, regulations, programs, policies, and procedures to identify sex discrimination. The Social Security laws, federal and private pension systems, and employment policies were rife with sexist language. In 1979, she became the Chief of the Coordination and Review Section of the Civil Rights Division, continuing this work. Later, Stew was a key collaborator on the development and implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Stew retired from the Department of Justice in 1995.

Stew had a spiritual side. After joining her friends in attending services at Beth Torah Congregation she embraced Judaism and converted in 1987. She enjoyed Seder with friends and family and made her own Haggadah. Judaism provided her another, older set of laws to assist her lifelong passion for understanding issues of justice. She greatly enjoyed traveling to Israel with family and friends.

Stew was an avid bibliophile. At an early age, she found that books set her on a path of exploration and dreamed of opening a used bookstore. She loved her second career as a bookseller at Borders. Borders provided her an opportunity to meet her favorite folk singer, Joan Baez. She founded the History Book Club at Borders that continues today. See: Washington Post

Stew also had many unconventional interests. She became an EMT in her late 50’s and volunteered with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. She loved the excitement of running calls and helping those in need. Stew was introduced to scuba diving by her third husband, Jerome “Jerry” Raffel. They traveled the world in search of exotic diving adventures.

She is predeceased by all three husbands, her parents, Ralph and Elizabeth Berry, and her two eldest children, Adaire and Rikki.

She is survived by her three children, Larkin Preston Cohan (Richard), Richard K. Preston, II (Judy) and Bannon E. Preston (John Ruppenthal), and a stepson, Nelson M. Oneglia, Jr.; her grandchildren, Thomas B. Duffy (Wendy Saccuzzo), Patrick C. Duffy (Cait), Andrew C. Preston, Kenneth B. Preston (Sara), Rafe A. Cohan, Cecily A. Cohan, Madison S. Ruppenthal, Ethan M. Ruppenthal, and great-grandchildren, Tai Harmon-Duffy and Miriam Harmon-Duffy; her siblings, Malinda B. Orlin (Gust Mitchell), Elizabeth B. Bennett (Jeff), Ralph M. Berry, Jr. (Norie Sato) and nephews, Tomohiro Berry, Michael G. Mitchell (Nancy) and niece, Elizabeth A. Garcia (John).

There will be a service at Hines Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD on January 11, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. followed by an interment at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.

Vaccinated guests are welcome. Please remain at home if you feel ill. There will be immunocompromised guests attending so please take a Covid test before arriving. Masks will be provided.

Following the service, there will be a memorial reception from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at the Montgomery Room at the Hilton Garden Inn 7301 Waverly Street, Bethesda, MD 20814(301.654.8111). There will be covered parking available.