Stewart Miller Cullum, who grew up in East Hampton, died on Nov. 9 at Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson. He was 78 and had been ill with cancer for three years.
Mr. Cullum served for two years in the Army Reserve and, when he was given an honorable discharge, had attained the rank of Specialist 5th Class.
He worked for 30 years for the New York Telephone Company and Verizon, starting in Manhattan in 1961 and retiring in 1991 from Verizon in Yaphank.
Mr. Cullum, who was a “loving, caring, and supporting husband, father, grandfather, and friend,” his family said, was born on Sept. 29, 1941, at Southampton Hospital, one of six children of Miller Bennett Cullum and Julia Ruppel Cullum. The family lived on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, and Mr. Cullum attended the local schools but ultimately graduated from Bryant High School in Astoria, Queens.
Once he started working for the telephone company, Mr. Cullum moved to New York City but stayed a volunteer at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Coram. He enjoyed fishing, birdwatching, and gardening, and was a member of the Southampton, Eastern Long Island, and Southern Long Island pigeon racing clubs and also of the Audubon Society.
In 1966, he married Mary Hoch, who survives and lives in Middle Island.Two children also survive, Barbara Ferolito of Smithtown and Michael Cullum of Port Jefferson Station, as do three grandchildren. His four surviving siblings are Walter Thomason and Audrey Talmage of East Hampton, Charles Cullum of Nineveh, N.Y., and Phillip Cullum of San Tan Valley, Ariz. Another sibling, Francis Thomason of East Hampton, died before him.
There was a prayer service led by Deacon Monte Naylor at the Hale and Lynch Funeral Home in Middle Island. A funeral Mass was said on Nov. 15 by the Rev. Gil Lap at St. Frances Cabrini Church. Mr. Cullum was buried at Calverton National Cemetery.
The family has suggested memorial donations to the American Cancer Society, at cancer.org, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, at stjude.org.
