22 Jan 1982Priscilla Wallace In my heart and memory, Lew will always loom large. Not just because he was enormous – the head of “The House of Large Things” – but because he was a human being who had it all: charisma, stature, brains, heart, looks, intuition, physical and emotional strength, mental toughness, natural exuberance, and supreme confidence.
I noticed Lew right away – how could you miss him?
But we formally met in class. Lew taught Cost Accounting at Northwestern, where I was a first-year MBA student and he was earning a Master’s degree. I saw that he hung out with some mutual friends, so eventually we connected socially. The gregarious sort, Lew’s first invitation was to brunch at his apartment where he was in his element in an apron, cooking for and greeting scores of friends. Later on, he invited me to his place for dinner where he presented me with a raspberry yogurt pie (now one of my husband’s favorites) made with Cool Whip, because he was on a diet at the time. We traded family stories and it didn’t take long to realize that we connected on some fundamental level. Perhaps it was because we shared intellectual curiosity, the value of hard work, a love of family, of language and witty humor, and empathy for others. Our bond lasted 44 years.
After we graduated in 1980, Lew came to visit me in Dallas. At the time, I was a marketing manager for Frito Lay. Lew wanted to attend the Texas/Oklahoma game in Oklahoma City. Despite my disinterest in football, we drove a couple hundred miles to the game. It bucketed rain all day, but we stayed till the end of the game, a testament to Lew’s devotion to football and mine to the person who was Lew. Two years later, I invited Lew to my January 23 wedding and he enthusiastically agreed to come - as long as it wasn’t scheduled on Super Bowl weekend! (I reminded him of that recently, and he said he hoped he’d mellowed since then! )
Over the next decade, we kept in touch through letters and telephone calls. In 1985, Lew visited us in Philadelphia while on business, met our first-born son, Andrew, and stayed the night. Sadly, it was to be the last time we’d see each other. Some months later, he sent a letter saying he’d had passed a blood clot and nearly died. They didn’t have a stent large enough for his veins and had to custom-make one! Lew had moved to Boston for a new job, and wrote that he was devastated when his beloved mastiff was killed while he was at work. Later, he told me that he was excited to meet (and later marry) the “lovely Anne Archibald”, but was worried that her family wouldn’t accept him. (Not possible!) Years of Christmas letters, pictures of Alex and Jess followed. But long distance moves, family and work took over, and we lost touch for some time.
Around 2010, the miracle of Facebook allowed us to connect once again! But when I saw Lew’s pictures, something was clearly wrong. I asked, “Lew, are you OK?” He explained he’d had a stroke, had lost 80 pounds and was doing therapy (including babysitting) to regain his physical and mental abilities. Lew didn’t really engage in Facebook, but would text me out of the blue with random comments or questions, always using his unique brand of punctuation…!!! and emojis. As an English major, I delighted in his command of language and his dry wit. In his texts, he always called me “Durham Girl” (a nod to Duke, my alma mater).
Lew reveled in the irony that, as a football agnostic, I was now leading a marketing partnership with the Minnesota Vikings. He prescribed “Football for Dummies”, which he also had recommended for Alex when she was dating (someone who likely is now her husband). Over the next decade, Lew never forgot my birthday or wedding anniversary (which was within 2 days of his). In 2019, we tried to find a way to meet in San Francisco where my husband and I were visiting friends, but Lew was visiting Jessica at Berkeley just prior, and the timing didn’t work. Now he is suddenly, irreversibly gone and I’m devastated!
Lew was one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure – the honor – of knowing. He leaves a giant void, the size of the impact he had on me and (I now realize) hundreds of other friends who share a similar story of personal warmth and deep friendship. Lew, I picture you hosting a huge party on a cloud somewhere. I hope that we will meet again!
