MACDOUGALL
MACDOUGALL, Alexander Stewart Orton (1927-2016), member #107 of the ALL EIGHT Club. His father, Alexander MacDougall was accidentally shot in the head while hunting on Santa Cruz Island in 1932. He died enroute to the mainland.
In the News~
July 5, 2016 [SBNP]: “Alexander Stewart Orton MacDougall Obituary. Son of Alexander H. and Katherine MacDougall, was born in Pasadena, California on May 7, 1927. He passed away peacefully at home June 21, 2016 surrounded by family and close friends. He is surrounded by his beloved wife of 55 years, Louisa, four children from a previous marriage, Lauren, Brinn, Alexander and Brandon, as well as two step children, Piero Fenci and Kendal Cramer Bazemore.
Stewart grew up in Pasadena and developed a love for surfing, sailing, and exploration. His father was a prominent businessman and sportsman who mysteriously died in a hunting accident while searchin for wild boar on Santa Cruz Island in 1932. Stewart's father and grandfather had been preparing a bid to purchase Santa Cruz Island at the time. Stewart completed secondary education in Pasadena at the Orton School of Classical Learning, which was directed by his mother. He was in the first class to enter UCSB, but left shortly thereafter to serve in the U.S. Navy on a mine-sweep in the western Pacific during World War II. He then attended Chouinard School to pursue non-objective art and design, and later worked with Victor Gruen and Associates, Rudolf Baumfeld, and LeCourbusier. In the 1950s, he worked with a small architecture firm in Montecito, while pursuing other interests.
Stewart produced a tremendous body of work in multiple design disciplines over his lifetime. He was one of the lead designers for the Monsanto House of the Future in Disneyland in 1957. He created many types of mid-century modern chairs, tables and cabinets in the Eames fashion that have become collectors' items. He designed and sold golf clubs, special putters, and push-carts, and was working on a set of clubs for seniors in recent months. He published A Natural Golf Swing in 2014, and A Cruise Journal to Santa Cruz Island in 2004. He collected and worked on vintage cars and enjoyed annual trips with friends to Pebble Beach for the Concourse d'Elegance. In his later years, he designed and built several large, colorful and distinctively named sculptures (Hal, Prancing Horse, High C) that reside in Santa Barbara, and a smaller piece that is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Stewart greatly enjoyed the game of golf and the architectural beauty of his two favorite courses: The Valley Club of Montecito and Sankaty Head Golf Club in Nantucket. Over a fifty-year period, he spent many pleasant afternoons playing these courses with friends.
From his earliest years until late in life, Stewart loved to sail. At various times, he was an active member of the Santa Barbara, Saint Francis, San Diego, New York, and Nantucket Yacht Clubs. He designed and built twenty unusual boats for specific purposes, sailed all of the Channel Islands, and raced his boats from San Francisco to Mexico, and Nantucket to Maine. Perhaps his favorite nautical experiences were with Louisa, on the yacht Zapata, which he built in her honor.
Stewart was a devoted husband to Louisa, and a loyal friend to those who knew him best. He will be greatly missed. At his request, there will be no funeral services.”
