Richard Clare Lewis

Richard Clare Lewis was born on October 12, 1934 to his parents Clare and Frances (Strang) Lewis. While still young, Richard and his parents moved from his birthplace of Grand Rapids, MI to Traverse City, MI. Growing up a native of Northern Michigan, Richard attended TCAPS, held a newspaper route, and participated in Boy Scouts. During this time, Richard developed a love for cars and airplanes.

In 1952, his senior year, Richard worked at Crandall's gas station on Union Street. He was fortunate enough to know, at the time, Gordon Cornwell (architect, race car driver) and bought Gordon's British racing green, (BRG) Austin Healy. Graduating high school, Richard went to Northwestern Michigan College. He received his Pre-engineering degree in 1956.

Richard began his professional career working for Parsons Aircraft Corporation. He started as a draftsman. Barely a year later, he was drafted to join the U.S. Army. During his tour, he was stationed at Fort Huchuca, AZ where he served as an Electronic Equipment Operator. He stayed in the Army as a reservist for six more years. After active duty, Richard took a job at Williams & Works in Grand Rapids. He worked as a draftsman, then a civil engineer. Richard returned to Traverse City and went back to work for Parsons. He was a lab technician and worked on the Parform System for NASA's Man-to-the-Moon project. Richard became a residential builder and designer after working for Parsons. He designed six homes in the TC area and built four. In 1972, Richard founded the Universal Alarms Company. He later sold the business to Engineered Protection Systems (EPS). Richard would always joke that he had a very interesting relationship with TC's finest. They always referred to him as the guy with the "real" keys to the city. His last job was working for E&J Plumbing Supply.

Richard married Shirley Hughes in 1959. She preceded Richard in death. They had two sons, Devin Craig Lewis and Tadd Lee Lewis. On Devin's side, Richard has three grandsons, Dylan, Alex, Storm and a great-granddaughter, Luna. On Tad's side, Richard has two granddaughters, Alexi and Tara (deceased). Tadd is married to Jill (MacLeish) Lewis.

In 1988 Richard married Sally (Schworm) Lewis and built a home with her on Old Mission Peninsula. His expanded family includes Marta (Michael) Weldon and granddaughters Mikele (Kelly) Michiels-Weldon (Caleb Michiels), Samm Weldon Wilkinson (BJ Wilkinson), great-grandchildren Molly and Jameson Wilkinson; Cindy (John) Neahr, granddaughter Amber (Rick) Harker, great-granddaughter Ava Harker; Colin (Tracy) Schworm, granddaughters Haley and Erin Schworm; and Kevin (Stacy – deceased) Schworm, grandchildren Darby and Martin Schworm.


Richard and Sally lived on Londolyn Bluff for nearly 30 years. Often Richard could be seen touring around the "bluffs" in his BRG Miata or joining the Tip-of-the-Mitt Miata Club for more adventures.
Richard served coffee to the choir at First Congregational Church every Sunday, always with a cheerful word, laugh and smile. More times than many could count, he would greet people with his signature, "Hey, you!" He traveled with Sally and the choir seven times to Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Russia. He also traveled eight times with Sally on the Organ Study Tours and served as the group's photographer. After retiring, he returned to his hobby of creating model airplanes (all to 1/72nd scale) and in 40 years he had made 235 planes – and one Starship Enterprise (thanks kids). He donated these to the Aviation Division at Northwestern Michigan College in 2022 and they will be displayed this fall in the Administration building.

A "Celebration of Life" will be held at Mission Hill Church (formerly First Congregational Church) on May 17th with visitation at 10:00AM and a service at 11:00AM. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to the Salvation Army or the Aviation Division at Northwestern Michigan College. A luncheon will follow.