Robert C. Stuart, 98, of Exeter passed away March 13, 2012. Bob was the beloved husband of the late Rose Levenson Stuart, and brother-in-law and uncle to a large extended family. A former resident of Portsmouth, NH and Newton MA., Bob, the son of a Nova Scotia immigrant farmer, spent his boyhood in Boylston MA and later became an outstanding, largely self-taught, clarinetist. He performed for the Houston Symphony in the early 1940’s and later became a master teacher at Phillips Andover, Phillips Exeter, Milton Academy, and the New England Conservatory. For decades, he was a regular in Boston’s theater district’s Broadway musical productions, the Worcester Symphony Orchestra and summer productions at Wentworth-by-the-Sea.

Bob was especially beloved by his Pleasant Point Drive neighbors, Bob and Rose’s Portsmouth home for many decades and where Bob became a well-known local fixture, recognized by many on his daily walks into town. Warmly embraced for his wit, wisdom, honesty and unvarnished observations about American politics, he was as comfortable with a Mozart concerto as with plumbing or electrical repair.

Bob possessed an extraordinary ability to recall every detail of his nieces/nephews lives and became a surrogate parent for many. Bob is survived by sisters-in-law Madelyn Levenson of Worcester, MA and Zoe Levenson of Newton, MA and nearly a dozen nieces and nephews from Paris, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Chicago, California and Massachusetts.

A Celebration of Bob’s life will be held privately.