St. Louis’s Doug Steward is a mammoth of a man who admits that life is finally catching up to him.
“At one time I stood 6-foot-8, but at 81 years old, I am shrinking,” he said jokingly. “Life is definitely catching up, but I have to admit I wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Steward has been a longtime fixture in the sports community in Gratiot County and statewide for more than five decades.
In the fall, it’s football and cross country.
In the winter, it’s basketball.
In the spring and summer, it’s track and field and baseball.
This spring, however, Steward said that it would be his last year officiating track and field.. He expects to be back in the fall for cross country, though.
“Sometimes life catches up to you,” he said. “I can’t do the things that I once did, so it was time to call it career in track and field. It has been an amazing ride, but now it’s time to sit back and reflect. But I will still be doing cross country as long as my body allows me to.”
The former teacher and coach at St. Louis retired in 1988 after 31 1/2 years. During his tenure, he coached both football and basketball in and around mid Michigan, winning nine conference titles in boys’ basketball and five in football.
As an official, a profession in which he’s also been active for decades, Steward worked in two state football finals as well as umpired in the state baseball and softball finals. He’s also worked state finals in cross country and track and has been in attendance at every basketball final since 1947.
In short, Mr. Doug Steward has had a lot to do with sports in mid Michigan for a good long time.
“I really just enjoy being around the young people and watching them root for one another; that’s what is most enjoyable for me,” he said. “I like being out here with the kids.”
To Steward, that’s what it’s always been about – the kids and the games and helping mold young people into better people. In one way or another, it’s something that he has held on to since his retirement.
In recent years, Steward, who played basketball at Kalamazoo College from 1954-58, has kept himself busy by working close to 30 events per year. Now he’s scaling back, expecially now that his grandson Rob Havenstein was selected in the second round of the National Football League (NFL) draft by the St. Louis Rams.
Despite his 6’7″, 321-pound frame, Havenstein, who was a University of Wisconsin lineman, didn’t have a very good combine. He ranked dead last in bench press repetitions among offensive linemen in Indianapolis and came close to the bottom in the 40-yard dash. But he was never the kind of player who was going to test well in drills.
The Rams opted to instead focus on Havenstein’s impressive week at the Senior Bowl, where he was considered by some scouts to be the group’s top offensive tackle, and on his all-Big Ten career in Madison. Havenstein took over the Badgers’ right tackle job as a sophomore and didn’t miss a single start over the next three years, paving the way for star runners Montee Ball and Melvin Gordon.
“I couldn’t be prouder of what Rob has accomplished.” Steward said. “The kid is a tremendous athlete. He’s a hard worker and I can’t wait to get to St. Louis and watch him play. I’m already planning a trip to watch him play in Green Bay.”
Steward’s granddaughter Holly Havenstein played college basketball at Colgate University. Holly is 6’3″, but missed her senior year because of injury.