Bishop Robert Marvin Stuart

Obituary:

Marvin Stuart -- Methodist leader and bishop

The son of a Methodist minister, Bishop Stuart rose to the highest office in the United Methodist Church when he was elected for a year as president of the Council of Bishops in 1978. His election capped a distinguished career, in which he served almost 30 years as a minister in the Bay Area and 16 years as a bishop in Denver and San Francisco.

Born in Paullina, Iowa, Bishop Stuart attended Taylor University in Indiana, where he met and married his wife, Mary Ella Rose, in 1933. He later graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in sacred theology.

In 1942, he took over as pastor at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto, a small congregation with a few hundred members at the time.

During his tenure there, the church grew to more than 2,000 members and constructed a gothic sanctuary in 1962.

In 1964, Bishop Stuart was elected a bishop and assigned to Denver. After serving eight years there, he returned to the Bay Area and served as resident bishop of the San Francisco area until his retirement in 1980.

Bishop Stuart most liked serving on the local level and pursuing social justice and equality, friends and relatives said.

"He felt all people had equal dignity in the sight of God and to discriminate because of race or gender was fundamentally wrong," said his son, Robert Lee Stuart of San Francisco.

During World War II, he ministered to Japanese Americans who were held at the Tanforan horse racing track. As a delegate to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1956, Bishop Stuart proposed the ordaining of female pastors, which the conference approved.

He was the first bishop in the San Francisco area to appoint a female district superintendent.

Bishop Stuart was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ella, and two children, who died at infancy. He is survived by his son, Robert Lee Stuart of San Francisco.

A memorial service will be held Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church. Donations can be made to the Stuart Landscaping Endowment, First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Bibliographic information:

• Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer
• Nov. 17, 2003
• Updated: Jan. 15, 2012 11:41 a.m
• https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Marvin-Stuart-Methodist-lead...
• Accessed 03/25/2021
• Published by Hearst Newspapers

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R Marvin Stuart, Census • United States Census, 1940

R Marvin Stuart's Spouses and Children

Mary Stuart Wife F 31 Illinois

Robers Stuart Son M
3 California

David Stuart Son M
2 California

Cite this Record

"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9DM-S17 : 6 January 2021), R Marvin Stuart, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 38-386, sheet 18B, line 45, family 441, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 312.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GW1Z-3NX