Larry Lewis

 Photos to come

Even during his days at GHS Larry Lewis felt a need to help people.  After graduation he entered Youngstown State University were he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.  In college he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity.  During this undergraduate school Larry worked a number of jobs both during school and in the summer.

During his time at YSU “I  felt God call me into the ministry,” Larry explains.  “The calling to ministry came about slowly.  There was no one cataclysmic incident, no Damascus Road experience.  I was fortunate to have a family that saw to it I went to church and I worked in the church as a youth.”

Following YSU graduation Larry set off to Louisville Kentucky and the Presbyterian Theological Seminary where he graduated in 1970 with a Master’s degree and was ordained to the office of ministry in the Presbyterian Church.

“On a more interesting note,” Larry says, “I met Carol Boswell in Louisville. We were married in 1968.  Carol and I have one son, Chris.”

Following his ordination Larry took on his first assignment as a solo pastorate in Detroit, MI.  At the same time he enrolled in the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago where he was awarded a Doctor of Ministry Degree in 1977.

During the next 27 years the Lewis family would serve the Presbyterian Church as a Church Pastor in Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, and back to Florida where he served until retirement in 2004.

Larry and Carol then moved to the Atlanta Georgia area to be close to son Chris  and his wife, Alesha.  Both Chris and Alesha are only children.  They have five sons, Connor, Colin, Caine, Caiden, and Camden . (13 years to 8 months)  and live about 10 minutes away from Carol and Larry.   Chris works for IBM as a business solutions exectuive.

During this time Larry went back to school to complete Georgia requirements to become certified to teach Special Education in the public schools.  33 hours of class work later Larry was certified.  He has taught special education in the Cobb County Georgia School District for the past 5 years.

“I chose special education because these students are the most needy of help,” Larry says.

Early on travel became and has remained a key part of the life of the Lewis family.  “Carol and I began our travels on our honeymoon.  We went from Louisville, where we were married, to Florida. and then to Canada, and finally and across Canada to Detroit where I did a year’s internship.  We ended up back in Louisville.  Early in my ministry we began to take student groups on mission tours to Jamaica, Mexico and all over the U.S.  It was during these trips that we learned to avoid the tourist areas if we could.”

The couple have never traveled with a group.  They did not like being told where to be when on vacation, thus they traveled alone. “ We traveled several times as a part of my own ongoing education, including Switzerland, Germany, France and England.  We have found that going to the tourist areas seldom gave a true impression of the country or the people.   We have often met other people on our trips who had similar interests and with whom we might spend the days,” Larry explains.  “However, Carol and have found that we most enjoyed each other’s company and wished to learn about the true citizens of the countries they visited and the way they actually lived their lives.

Carol and Larry have traveled around the world visiting every continent except for Antartica and South America.  This love of travel brought Larry to compete for the position of Ship’s Protestant Chaplain on a Crystal Cruises 2008 World Cruise on the Serenity.

The story of the selection process and the experiences Carol and Larry had on this cruise is a story in and of itself.  I am doing my best to get Larry to elaborate on this story for our “Beyond Biography” section.

Larry has been a member of Rotary and Kiwanis and is a member of William Farr Lodge #672 Free and Accepted Masons in Girard since he was 21.  He has also been a member of several non-profit boards and agencies, and was licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator in Michigan and a Licensed Family Counselor in Florida.