Mount Pleasant Magazine 6.3

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World Long Drive Champion Sean
“The Beast” Fister.
Though he is proud of the free
“pickles” he provides for his cus-
tomers, Stewart thinks his greatest
accomplishment was establishing the
Detyens Medical Center, an on-site
facility that offers free health care and
generic prescriptions for the compa-
ny’s 500 employees and their families.
“Many people who work here had
no family doctor, and they were going
to the emergency room, which ran up
our insurance bill,” Stewart said. “No
other company in this area does that
for their employees.”
The medical center was established
by Dr. Robert Freeman, who also runs
the Harvest Free Medical Clinic, a
nonprofit that moved from its original
location on Midland Park Road in
North Charleston to the Detyens
property in 2006. Stewart’s wife, Judy,
suffered from multiple sclerosis, and
Dr. Freeman visited her virtually every
day for a year-and-a-half. She passed
away in 2012.
“I was talking with Dr. Freeman
one night, and I asked him, ‘If we
move the Harvest Medical Clinic
to our facility, will you set up a
medical center for our employees?”’
Stewart said. “That’s the best thing
we ever did.”
Though ALS has robbed Stew-
art of his ability to walk and talk, it
has done little to mute his sense of
humor. He enjoys offering visitors a
small book titled “What Men Know
About Women,” which, upon further
investigation, turns out to be a cover
wrapped around 24 blank pages.
According to the ALS Associa-
tion, the disease usually is fatal within
two to five years. Fourteen years after
being diagnosed with ALS, D. Loy
Stewart is still playing an important
role at Detyens Shipyards, Inc.
“The Lord left me here for a
reason,” he said. “Keeping the young
guys from screwing the company up
too much.”
STYLES
You Want to Wear
843.352.7331
423
Hibben Street
Mt. Pleasant
South Carolina