A moment of silence was held ahead of the Hart High School football game Friday night in remembrance of Tony Stewart, a longtime supporter of Hart High athletics.
Stewart died Monday morning following medical complications that came as a result of a stroke.
For fifteen years Stewart could be seen on the sidelines of Hart football games, cameras in hand, snapping away at the game, hoping to create a memory for a young player and his or her family.
Stewart photographed not only football players at the games, but the student section: Hart boys, cheerleaders, musical performers, the dance team, the Hart regiment homecoming kings and queens, coaches. He captured the essence of a Hart football game through the lens of his camera.
He also collaborated on the school’s annual football poster, assisted with their weekly game programs, and contributed to their website to share with the Hart football community.
The announcer at Friday’s game shared some words about Stewart’s life and welcomed his family to the event, including his wife Monica and daughters Jamie and Ronnie.
The event was attended by a number of Stewart’s friends and family, as well as members of the Hart High School administration that he interacted with over the years, including the William S. Hart Union High School District’s Chief Administrative Officer Collyn Nielsen, Hart High principal Jason D’Autremont, Placerita Junior High principal John Turner, and Hart football Head Coach Mike Herrington.
After welcoming the family, the stadium shared in a moment of silence in honor of Stewart.
The announcer thanked the crowd and the Stewart family for sharing Tony’s life with the Hart community to applause from the crowd.
However, as the event on the field began to break up and various Hart officials greeted, hugged and offered words of condolence to the Stewart family, silence retook the crowd.
Only the trademark drum beat of the Hart Regiment’s exit music could return the crowd to a sense of normalcy, back to a typical Friday night of high school football, the sort that Tony Stewart had seen hundreds of times.
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