A true character, Stewart E. “Stu” Amrine, age 64, of Marion, died Wednesday morning, February 16, 2011, at the Marion General Hospital following a gradual decline in his overall health.
Often correcting people about how his nickname was spelled, saying, my name is “not spelled like the soup.”
On November 3, 1946, Stewart was born at the old Marion General Hospital in Marion, the son of the late Luther and Gloria (Kaelber) Amrine. While growing up, he enjoyed helping his father with his business, Amrine Pest Control. He graduated from Marion Harding High School in the class of 1964.
A few years after high school, Stu enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp. to help his fellow countrymen in the fight of Vietnam War. He was stationed in Vietnam and was in and out of Okinawa, serving as an aviation weapons system and fire control technician, a radar specialist, and a rifleman.
After his honorable discharge, Stu lived in La Habra, California, from 1967 to 1972, and while there he owned and operated his own construction company. He then lived in Las Vegas for a few years, until he decided to return home to Marion to help his father run the family business when his health started to decline. Shortly after his father passed away and they no longer were running Amrine Pest Control, Stu then started his own business, S.E.A. Exterminating, and operated it for many years until he was able to sell it.
For many years, Stu had been very active in many organizations. The organizations he gave most of his time to where the Breakfast Kiwanis, the American Legion, and the National Rifle Association. He also was a member of the Calvary E.U.B. Church and later the Trinity Baptist Church.
In his younger years, Stu loved hunting and fishing out in the great outdoors. He enjoyed his days of big game hunting in Wyoming, and would “fish anywhere and everywhere” with this favorite being in the Hoback Snake River in Wyoming.
An avid sports fan, Stu loved watching his beloved Ohio State Buckeyes and longed for the good ole’ days of the Washington Redskins when they had players like John Riggins and Joe Theisman. He also enjoyed collecting baseball and football cards.
A proud veteran, Stu believed there “was no such thing as a former marine”…all marines were marines for life. His experiences with his fellow Vietnam veterans also became an integral part of the rest of his life.
A loving father and grandfather, Stu’s health didn’t allow him to travel to see his son and grandchildren as often as he would like. Nevertheless, he loved every minute of talking with them over the phone.
Anyone who knew Stu would know that saying he was ornery or rotten was a drastic understatement. The words that may best describe him are probably words we shouldn’t write in the paper. He truly had a “a great sense of humor,” in his own witty and playful way.
Befitting of his personality and love for stupid humor, Stu loved a good comedy; movies such as Airplane, Spaceballs, and the Naked Gun. And he always made time for a good western, such as Jeremiah Johnson and True Grit.
Stu will be dearly missed by his son and daughter-in-law, Justin Ryan and Shannon Amrine of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and their children: Jacob, Ethan, and Shelby Amrine; three sisters: Judy (Robert) LaBounty of Yuma, Arizona, Sandra Amrine, and Susan (Jerry) Snyder, both of Marion; a brother, Bruce (Tammy) Amrine of Westerville; numerous nieces and nephews; and by his former wives: Renee Amrine Jenkins, and Gloriann Burkhart Amrine, both of Marion.
The Amrine family will greet friends from 2 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, at the Denzer-Farison-Hottinger & Snyder Funeral Home, 360 E. Center St., Marion. Military honors provided by the Marion County United Veterans Council will immediately follow the visiting hours.
Friends are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite Buckeye gear.
Memorial contributions may be made to the ASPCA (the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), or the Marion Area Humane Society and they may be sent to the care of the funeral home.
For those wishing to express their private condolences online to Stu’s family, you may do so by visiting www.snyderfuneralhomes.com.
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