Senator Beach, Prezioso and Williams have requested the Division of Highways name Exit 153 on West Virginia Interstate-79 in Monongalia County the “Coach Bill Stewart Exit.”
Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 was filed for introduction and introduced to the Senate on January 19, 2016. It was adopted Thursday, February 4, 2016 and passed legislation February 24, 2016.
William L. “Bill” Stewart, otherwise known as Coach Stew, was born in Grafton, West Virginia on June 11, 1952. Stewart married Karen Kacor, a native to New Martinsville, West Virginia. He is survived by his wife and their only son, Blaine, after he died of an apparent heart attack on May 21, 2012.
Stewart graduated from Fairmont State College in 1975 with a degree in education. He began coaching at Fairmont State in 1974 while he was an assistant student coach for one season. He continued to coach football from that point on. He coached at:
Stewart stepped in as the interim head coach after Rich Rodriguez’s departure in 2007. He led the Mountaineers to victory in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl game. The next day, he was announced as West Virginia University’s 32nd head coach.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 is sponsored by Senator Beach, Facemire, Kessler, Kirkendoll, Laird, Miller, Palumbo, Plymale, Prezioso, Romano, Snyder, Stollings, Unger, Williams, Woelfel, Yost, Leonhardt and Gaunch.