Guy Lewis

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Saturday, May 25, 2013 Guy Spalding Lewis took his last breath. Guy was 6'5 tall with thick white hair and perpetually freckled skin. He enjoyed robust health, strength, and vigor for most of his 89 years, and only fell ill suddenly (at the end of his life) on May 13, 2013. He passed peacefully at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL surrounded by his family and attended by Hospice until the end. Guy was born in Augusta, GA on July 1, 1923 to Constance Deming Lewis and Willard Lewis. While in high school in Augusta, GA, he ran track and joined the ROTC. He attended Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts and earned degrees in electrical engineering and physics in 1943. After graduation, he immediately joined the US Navy to serve his country as a research officer on the Navy Destroyer USS Lowry in the Pacific during the last two years of World War II. Guy married Elaine Schuster who bore him five children. After they divorced, he married Sherrill Hoffmann in 1960; she bore him three daughters. He spent thirty years as the president of Riverside Mills in Augusta, GA. When the mill failed in 1975, he took the bull by the horns as he put it, and created his own niche within the rapidly changing textile market. Guy maintained his work as a textile machinery consultant with his company MGK Enterprises, Inc. until illness finally overcame him a mere two weeks before his passing. A master of what he called creative financing , Guy lived an abundant and active life with his wife and youngest daughter Katherine in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL for the last twenty-nine years of his life. He lived one of his favorite sayings: i.e. use it or lose it. Guy lived with gusto and enthusiasm for life's rich experience. He travelled the world in the 1960's 70s and 80 s with his wife Sherrill and later negotiated the entire inter-coastal waterway on the US eastern seaboard on a 47' yacht with his wife Sherrill and two young daughters (Maria and Gigi) in tow. He loved the ocean and chose to live the later part of his life across the street from the beach. He enjoyed fine food, fine wine and spirits, fine classical music, stimulating conversation, and a good baseball game through his last conscious moments. Guy was a generous, loving, and compassionate husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. A friend to many, he listened with a compassionate heart and gave wise words to many a soul in need of help travelling life's labyrinthine maze. Most people young or old who knew Guy agreed that he was an awesome person; people rallied around his generous and loving spirit. He was always ready with a drink and an invitation to join life's joyful party. He was everybody's favorite dad. Guy is survived by his wife Sherrill H. Lewis; five daughters Cheryl, Karen, Maria, Gigi, and Katherine, and one son Willard; thirteen grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by a daughter Kristen and a son Peter. Although he had many friends, one of his most special ones was his son-in-law Wayne Kilburn (husband to his daughter Gigi) who resides in St. Augustine, FL with his wife and daughter Constance. A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 8th in the Chapel of Quinn-Shalz Family Funeral Home. Guy will be much missed by all of his family and friends. We wish him well on his new journey, wherever it may lead. Please visit our online Tribute at www.quinn-shalz.com. Services under the direction and care of Quinn-Shalz Family Funeral Home, Jacksonville Beach, FL.

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