Patrick Stewart, Star Trek's Captain Picard, Dies at 86. He Played the Father He Never Had.

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

Sir Patrick Stewart, the Shakespearean actor who became Capt. Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died. He was 86. He died Oct. 28 at his home in Los Angeles following a battle with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, Deadline reported, citing a statement from his representative.

"We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia," the statement reads, according to Deadline. It said he had been "surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter, and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all."

From Yorkshire to the bridge of the Enterprise

Stewart was born in 1940 in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England. His mother was a textile worker, and his father was a former sergeant major in the Parachute Regiment whose experience during the wartime evacuation of Dunkirk had badly affected his mental health, the BBC reported. A teacher introduced him to Shakespeare. His first public performance was in a local church production of Cinderella, and he left school at 15.

His childhood was hard. NPR reported that he remembered his father as alcoholic and abusive, and that he found solace in school and, eventually, in Shakespeare. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and made his Broadway debut in 1970 in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He was lecturing on Shakespeare at UCLA when his name came up to lead a new Star Trek series. His friend Ian McKellen told him not to take it. "Don't do this, Patrick," Stewart remembered McKellen saying. "You're a very good stage actor. That's where you ought to be. Don't do it."

He did it anyway, and The Next Generation ran seven seasons, from 1987 to 1994, according to NPR. Fans loved Picard's Earl Grey tea, his calm command and his orders "Engage!" and "Make it so!" He returned to the role in Star Trek: Picard, which concluded its third and final season in April 2023, Deadline reported. He played Professor X beginning with the 2000 film X-Men and will appear in the role an eighth time in Avengers: Doomsday, set for release Dec. 18.

Deadline reported that he won three Olivier Awards and a Grammy and was nominated for a Tony. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2010 for services to drama. He served as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield from 2004 to 2015, and he remained a lifelong supporter of Huddersfield Town football club, the BBC reported. McKellen said Stewart "never forsook his origins."

His death came days after the loss of another Star Trek actor. Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov on the original series and in many of the films, died at 90 at his home in North Hollywood, The Guardian reported. His co-star George Takei wrote: "Walter was more than Chekov. He was a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend."

Opinion: He played the father he never had, and the old deserve our honor to the end

Television is full of men who shout. Picard was a man who listened. He held authority without bullying, kept his word, read his books and expected his crew to do their duty. Professor X was the same kind of figure, a teacher who gathered young people nobody else wanted and gave them a home. NPR noted that Stewart, raised by an abusive father, became best known for playing kind, paternal leaders. That is worth pausing on. A boy who grew up with a father's fists spent his career showing millions what a good father figure looks like. Many Americans who grew up in broken homes learned something about steady, fair leadership from a starship captain. That is no small legacy.

A childhood friend told the BBC that Stewart was "very firmly old Labour," and he and I would not have agreed on much in politics. But fair is fair. He worked hard, gave back to the town that raised him, and treated a craft seriously for six decades. Hollywood could use more of that.

His last chapter also tells a hard truth. Alzheimer's and dementia take the mind before they take the body, and families watch the person they love slip away. Scripture gives a plain command: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD." That command does not expire when an old man forgets names. The statement announcing his death said he died at home, with music and prayer around him. Every family facing that road deserves the same. Churches can help by sitting with the caregivers, bringing meals, and visiting the ones who no longer remember the visit.

We wrote recently that Richard Riehle, Tom Smykowski in 'Office Space,' Dies at 78, and noted the worth of faithful work in small parts. Stewart played the big parts. The lesson is the same. Do the work well, keep your roots, and honor the old who came before you.