Broadcaster and gospel music pioneer Frank Stewart dies in Birmingham
ONE OF THE pioneers of the British gospel scene, Frank Stewart, died
in Birmingham, West Midlands, on 2nd April. During the '70s and '80s
Frank and family members recorded and toured with a calypso style
gospel group, The
Singing Stewarts. Then in the '90s he was for many years the
presenter of The Frank Stewart Gospel Hour on BBC Radio WM.
I worked with Frankie in the 1960s at the GPO telephones in Central exchange, Birmingham and would sometimes pick or drop him off in Mayfield Road in my old Morris 1000 van. I was very shy and Frankie chatted up one of the telephone operators for me and we are still married after 48 years. We both had very fond memories of Frankie, for a long I had intended to contact him to catch up and let him know that we were both still together (and thank him). I was so sad when I finally decided to contact him a couple of years only to find he had died. A lovely man, good fun to work with, very happy person, who loved his family.