Stuart Leckie Eddins, age 85, passed away peacefully on March 17th, 2021 after a decades-long struggle with COPD and related respiratory conditions. Stuart was born in Huntington, West Virginia on June 27th, 1935; the son of Hersel Hugo Eddins and Katherine Stuart Leckie.
Stuart attended Huntington East High School. In 1958 Stuart married his high school sweetheart Carole Mobayed at Highlawn Presbyterian Church in Huntington. In 1961 they moved to Lincoln, Nebraska with their first child Stuart L Eddins, Jr. and the family soon grew to include daughters Susan Kay and Elizabeth Ann.
A member of First Presbyterian in Lincoln, and later Eastridge Presbyterian, he served as a deacon to both church families.
Stuart’s career in clothing retail started at Angel’s department store in Huntington. The move to Lincoln was spurred by an opportunity to develop a children’s clothing department in the newly expanding Ben Simon’s stores located in Lincoln and Grand Island at the time, soon to be in the new Gateway Mall. Eventually Stuart would purchase the children’s department in the late-1970s.
In the 1970’s the department inside Ben Simon’s shifted focus from all children’s clothing to boys and young men, the Boy Scout area was expanded, and a hobby department was added. Under Stuart’s management the department became the first job for many young men who started while in high school and later worked their way through college. There was something of a rule that school came first, and work schedules were always created with this rule in mind.
Chances are that if you were a young man in Lincoln between 1961 and 1987 and you needed a suit for church or graduation, a uniform for Boy Scouts, or supplies for your favorite hobby you likely shopped Stuart’s department at Gateway Mall. Further, Stuart remained in contact with many of the young men he employed as well as with their parents. After retirement, Stuart remained part time in retail selling men’s clothing where on many occasions he outfitted the adult children of the boys he helped clothe in the 1970’s.
An avid reader, he favored histories and historical fiction with some Tom Clancy or courtroom thrillers tossed in too. For him reading was for entertainment and it was therapeutic as it represented a victory over mild to moderate dyslexia.
A little later in life Stuart discovered baking, specifically cookies. When his mother moved into a long-term care facility Stuart would send a box with a few dozen homemade cookies every week or so. His idea was that the cookies would lure the staff into her room more frequently, increasing her social interactions. After a while though he was off and running, often making eight to ten different types of cookies for holidays or events. The peak of his cookie-making arc was for his granddaughter’s wedding where he made hundreds of chocolate sandwich cookies for the reception, and every year after that he’d make a dozen for her birthday.
Stuart was not perfect. He tended to whistle show tunes at the table while eating at restaurants, or worse Eddy Arnold songs on long drives across country to the embarrassment and consternation of his children. These same children failed to notice that the more embarrassed they acted the louder his whistling became. Another trait was an ability to embellish stories with a straight face, sucking the gullible listener in deeper and deeper until they would glance at his wife who would signal by rolling her eyes that maybe, just maybe, some parts of the story weren’t entirely accurate.
In all, Stuart had a life well lived, and he touched many others in ways big and small. He never met a stranger and was able to strike up a conversation at the drop of a hat. He was selfless and giving, he had a moral compass that he followed unerringly, and he was compassionate with others.
Stuart was preceded in death by his wife Carole in August of 2018, he is survived by his three children Stuart L. Eddins (LeeAnn), Susan K. Eddins, and Elizabeth A. Norvelle (Tom). In addition, three grandchildren – Erica Gibson (Ian), Justin Eddins (Amber), and Zachary Tacey, and two great-grandchildren Lennon Gibson and Blake Eddins.
The date for a memorial service will be announced when conditions permit, please leave your email address in your condolence message if you would like a notice once a date is known for the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Eastridge Presbyterian, General Fund would be greatly appreciated.