Then in July 2009, I found an interest post on a genealogy message board that gave me the name of Leta’s great grandson.  His name was Shawn Butler.  He was looking for information about his great great grandmother Julia Geeslin Smith, for which I have lots of info about.  I tried to contact him without success. The problem was that his email address that he provided was no longer valid.  I even tried contact some Shawn Butlers on Facebook.  No good.  You can read more about that part of the story here:

http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/07/17/great-grandson-of-leta-smith-found-sort-of/

So with that dead end, I gave up on her for a while, until this morning.  I’m not sure why I selected her  for my research effort again.  I guess it was because I just couldn’t accept the fact that I couldn’t  find her or her family.  With such unusual names involved, you would think finding a mother named Leta and two children name Merle and Berle would be easy.  No way.  It has been a nearly impossible task…  until this AM.

This morning I decided to do a fresh search of Leta using four know variations of her name, including Leeta, Leda and Leeda.  I stripped out almost all other search criteria except for her birth year and birth state and asked for exact matches.   Then I added what was believed to be Leta husbands first name… Bert. Since I had no idea what the last name could be, I left it blank.   I confined the search to the 1920 Census.

When I pressed the search button, there,  at the top was a Leta E Record, married to a Bert Record with two children; Muyrell and Burnes (at least according to the person who translated the record into the Ancestry.com database).  On closer examination of the actual 1920 Census record, I found the Leta E was born in Iowa, her mother born in Iowa and her father was born in New York.  This information perfectly matched what I knew about Leta.  Now, my concern was of the two children’s names.  They looked similar to the names I was looking for, but far from a match.  In addition, this Census Record was taken in the Rock Island, Illinois area.

What would Leta be doing in Illinois?  But then I remembered.  Back when I was looking for Leta’s son, I tracked down Shawn Butlers Internet Service Provider and they were in Illinois.  Hmmmmmm.  That’s interesting!

So I went back to the original article I wrote about Shawn’s inquiry to see if there were any clues that I missed. Nope, nothing there.   I then went back to the original postings he made at geneaology.com.  Nope… didn’t miss anything there either.  But….  he had made inquiries into other surnmes at geneaology.com.  So I went to check on his other postings.  Sure enough, there was the confirmation I needed.  He posted several messages indicating that he was in possession of the “Record Family Bible”.  And the details of his post was even more interesting.  In one post, he said:

“I have a family bible handed down to me with my great-great grandfather listed as well as his brothers and sisters. Grandfather Bert Record is buried in rock Island .”

Bingo..  Now the pieces have fallen into place.   Leta Ethel Smith married Bert Record.  And Merle and Berle do not appear to be twins, at least according to the 1920 Census.  Now I just need to make the rest of the connections!  Say tuned!

THE FIRST US GENERATION OF SHEEHANS

Jeremiah D Sheehan was born circa 1826 in Ireland.  He arrived in the US sometime around 1845, although no concrete details about his immigration have been found yet.  He was married to Mary Sullivan, who was born circa 1829 in Ireland. Together they had six children.

• Jeremiah Sheehan, (b. 1848 in Vermont or New Hampshire)
• Daniel J. Sheehan (b. 1851 in Vermont or New Hampshire)
• Mary A Sheehan (b. circa 1856 in New Hampshire)
• Hanora A Sheehan (b. 1859 in New Hampshire)
• Margaret G Sheehan (b. 1860 in New Hampshire)
• John Joseph Sheehan  (b. 1864 in New Hampshire).

Based on the fact that the two youngest children have conflicting census information about where they were born, it is possible that Jeremiah and Mary may have initially settle somewhere in Vermont, before making New Hampshire their home.  Between 1856 and 1864, the Sheehans lived in Boscawan, New Hampshire where I believe most, if not all the other children were born.  There are no birth records for any of them in the New Hampshire Vital Record Archives.

Around 1860, the Sheehan family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire.  Over the years they lived in several houses.

• 1860:  6 Johnson’s Block
• 1864 – 1866:   4 Mitchell’s Block
• 1871 – 1875:  5 Merrimack (opposite the square)
• 1873:  Rear of 44 Merrimack
• 1875 – 1886:   62 Auburn Street, Manchester, NH
• 1886 – 1891:  186 Auburn Street, Manchester, NH

Mary Sullivan Sheehan, Jeremiah’s wife,  died at the age of 41 in 1870 and was buried at the old Saint Josephs Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Jeremiah D Sheehan was a proud member of several New Hampshire Volunteer Regiments during the civil war. He enlisted as a Private on 25 July 1861 at the age of 38.  His grave proudly indicates that he was a  member of Co. K 10th Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers.

• Enlisted in Company C, 3rd Infantry Regiment New Hampshire on 23 Aug 1861.
• Received a disability discharge from Company C, 3rd Infantry Regiment New Hampshire on 19 Oct 1861 at Annapolis, MD.
• Enlisted in Company K, 10th Infantry Regiment New Hampshire on 5 Sep 1862.
• Received a disability discharge from Company K, 10th Infantry Regiment New Hampshire on 28 Apr 1863.
• Enlisted in Company C, 11th Regiment U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps on 4 Jan 1864.
• Received a final disability discharge from Company C, 11th Regiment U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps on 2 Dec 1864 at Point Lookout, MD.

In all census records between 1860 and 1880, Jeremiah is listed as a general laborer. The 1870 census lists his son Daniel as working in a locomotive shop, while the three girls were listed as working in a Cotton Mill, in Manchester.   In 1880, the three girls continued their work at the Cotton Mill but were now joined by their brother Daniel. John began his apprenticeship as an iron moulder.

Jeremiah D Sheehan died on 16 December 1891 in Manchester and was buried at the old Saint Joseph’s Cemetery with his wife.  Jeremiah jr. disappeared after the 1860 Census.  He most likely died at an early age although it is possible he moved out of the area.  As far as I can tell, he is not buried at the family plot.  Daniel (or Danial as the headstone indicates) died 20 Dec 1900 in Manchester and is buried at the family plot with his mother and father.  Mary A Sheehan also disappeared after the 1880 census.  She may have married or also died.

THE SECOND U.S. GENERATION OF SHEEHANS

Hanora Sheehan (Aunt Han) never married and lived to the age of 81,  She died in 2 November 1939 in the Manchester area.  She spent much of her elder years living with her sister Margaret Sheehan Simpson at 335 Central Street in Manchester.  Margaret’s husband Charles Simpson, died a year or two after they married.  Margaret and Charles had no children.  Hanora worked as a Milliner while Margaret worked as a cook in a hotel.  I believe both were present at the later marriage of their niece, Margaret Sheehan.  Margaret Sheehan Simpson died 22 May 1930 and is buried at the family plot.

John J Sheehan, my Great Grandfather, finished his moulder apprenticeship around 1890 and left Manchester for the big city of New York.  He may have done this looking for work.  There, he met his first wife, Elizabeth Rose Keeny (Kenney) and were presumably married there in Brooklyn, New York.  They lived at 158 Luquer Street in Brooklyn and attended the Church of St Mary Star of The Sea which was right around the corner from where they lived. There is no marriage certificate filed with the City of New York.  Together they had three children.

• Margaret Mary Sheehan (b. 1891 in Brooklyn, NY)
• William Edward Sheehan (b. 1893 in Brooklyn, NY)
• Elizabeth R Sheehan (B. 1896 in Brooklyn, NY.)

There are no birth registrations filed for any of the three children in the City of New York either, but all three were recorded as baptized at Saint Mary Star of the Sea.  Failing to register births with the City was not necessarily uncommon in New York.  Apparently about 10% of the population chose to to not notify the authorities of births during those years.

Elizabeth Kenny Sheehan, mother of three young children,  died 6 March 1898 at the age of 29.  According to her death certificate, she died of appendicitis and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.    When I called the cemetery, they told me that they have no record of an Elizabeth Sheehan being buried there.  So as of today, we know nothing about her except what is indicated in her death certificate.  I have not been able to find a birth record for her or connect her with a family in the 1880 Census.

Born: Brooklyn, NY (between March 6 1868 and March 6 1869)
Occupation: Housewife
How long a resident of New York: Lifelong
Lived in a three family house on the third floor.
Father was born in Ireland
Mother was born in Ireland.

By 5 June 1900 , John J Sheehan had left Brooklyn, NY was living in Milford, Mass. The 1900 census shows just  two children, William and Margaret, with him.  Elizabeth was not listed, nor could I find her anywhere else in Census records.

On 2 January 1902  - John J Sheehan married his second wife, Ellen Francis Flynn in Natick, Massachusetts.  By June 1910,  the new Sheehan family moved to Woonsocket, Rhode Island and bought their first house at 239 Summer Street.

John J Sheehan died at his home at 239 Summer Street on 24 Apr 1930 and is buried at St Charles Cemetery in Blackstone, Massachusetts.

THE THIRD U.S. GENERATION OF SHEEHANS

Somewhere around age 22, Margaret Mary Sheehan decided to leave Woonsocket and her father and move to Manchester, New Hampshire.  She may have been seeking work. She moved into an apartment at 276 Central Street in Manchester and began work at 999 Elm Street which is where her Aunt Han worked.   In 1915  Margaret moved in with her two Aunts,  Margaret Simpson and Hanora Sheehan and lived with them for several years.  Together they lived at a house  at 315 Lake Avenue.  Margaret soon met Jeremiah J Hayes, who she married on  24 June 1918.  A wedding with lots of family photographs took place at the house on Lake Avenue.   The couple moved into a rented house at 35 Front Street.  Within the year after the marriage, Jeremiah opened up the J. J. Hayes Novelty Store at 80 Front Street.

By 1920, the couple were expecting their first of three children.

• Margaret Hayes (b. 1920 in Manchester, NH – died soon after birth)
• John Joseph Hayes  (b. 1922  in Manchester, NH)
• Andrea Hayes  (b. 1927 in Manchester, NH)

After Andrea’s birth, Jeremiah gave up the Novelty store and began work as a salesman for a candle company.  In 1924, Jeremiah and Margaret moved to Woonsocket, RI and moved in with Margaret’s widowed step mother, Ellen Sheehan at the house at 239 Summer Street.

When my DNA order was fulfilled more than a year ago by Ancestry.com, there was a problem “uploading” the data to the DNA Console of Ancestry.com.   Whenever I initially logged into the console, it would not show me any results. So after many go arounds with support, the problem was reportedly fixed.  Now, when I look at the results though, I don’t see a single reference to my father’s name.  80% of the results are coming back as being related to people with the surname of “O’Leary”.  Now I understand that adoption and/or other issues may affect the surnames, but with that initial “upload” error mess, I seriously wonder whether my results were screwed up with someone else’s.  I really didn’t ever get any satisfactory explanation of what really happened nor did I ever feel comfortable that I am looking at the proper results. Clearly I felt like a “pioneer” with the Ancestry DNA project.  When I asked for a free retest, I was denied.

So, two weeks ago, I decided to have my DNA retested by Family Tree DNA. The full boat.   I really hope the error wasn’t on the part of Ancesty.com.  If the DNA doesn’t match, I think at the very least I will deserve a refund from Ancestry.com.

No reply is necessary unless you have new information as to what happened with my results.  I just thought you should know that i am one potentially unhappy customer with your service… but  I think I told you that in an earlier communication.

If the results match, then at least I can rest comfortably knowing that  I did have the correct results all along.  But until that second set of DNA results arrive, I will always question whether I am looking at my relatives in the Ancestry.com DNA console.

I guess we will know soon.

There have been thousands of pieces of artwork submitted and hers was chosen from entries from around the country. You can vote every twenty four hours if you want.

There are prizes for the student who receives the most votes in December.

Click the link below to view all the contestants art and to vote for your favorite.

https://www.artstamps.com/collectibles.php?page=2

Merry Christmas!!

Angelo was born 14 May 1872 in Mantova, Lombardia, Italy.  He was the out of wedlock son of Carlos Bellizario (sp?) and Lucia Parmelli.  The old family story indicates that the sexual relation between Lucia and Carlos  may have been non-consentual.

Angelo died of Cirrhosis of Liver on October 18, 1913 at his home in 83 West 6th Street, Paterson, New Jersey.  He was 41 years old.  He left behind four daughters (Marie, Jean, Stephanie and Yolanda) and one boy (Michael). Multiple sources indicate that he was a cigar salesman.  He was buried at Laurel Green Cemetery just outside of Paterson.

]]> http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/12/01/the-death-certificate-of-angelo-anthony-baroni/feed/ 0 http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/11/24/the-baron-scherer-chapel/ http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/11/24/the-baron-scherer-chapel/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:32:58 +0000 Philip Hayes http://hayesfamily.us/?p=902 The Baron Scherer Chapel

The Baron Scherer Chapel (”The Chapel on the Hill”) is located in the Bellevue Cedar Hill Memory Gardens in Daytona Beach. Fl.

Karen Szczeniak, the volunteer Find-A Grave photographer who took the pictures, called the Chapel grand and impressive.  She says the chapel is in generally good condition but has some minor water seepage on one wall.  The wooden benches may be in need of some touch-up too.  Attached to the Chapel are two wings of an ordinary mausoleum structure.  The cemetery employee who took her there says it is the only one like it on the cemetery grounds… “and the cemetery is huge!”

Marie Baron Scherer had the Chapel built in hopes that other Baron family members would be buried there also.

Buried in the Chapel are:

Marie Baron Scherer
b. 14 May 1897  in Italy
d. 3 Nov 1992 in Contra Costa, California
Find-A-Grave Link:  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44715735

Luis Pradillo Scherer
b. 20 Jun 1895 in Mexico City
d. Apr 1964 in Volusia County, Florida
Find-A-Grave Link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44715917

Wylda (Yolanda Ofelia) Baron Nimidoff
b. 7 Jul 1905 in Patterson, NJ
d. 25 Nov 1986 in Contra Costa, California
Find-A-Grave Link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44715830

Demitri Alexander Nimidoff
b. 12 Feb 1896 in Russia
d. Feb 1968 in Lafayette, Contra Costa, California
Find-A-Grave Link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44774132

Gean (Eugene) A Baron
US Navy – World War II
b. 29 May 1921, Cleveland, OH
d. Mar 1984 Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Find-A-Grave Link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44774065

A very special thanks to Karen Szczeniak for the photographs!

When searching Census records for a Francis Dillon who was born circa 1848 in Scotland, I came across just one possible match and it was in the the 1861England Census.  In it, we find a family of Dillon’s living in Liverpool, England.

Francis Dillon 54 abt 1807 Ireland Head of Household, A Feather Dealer

Sarah Dillon 60 abt 1801 Ireland Wife

Ellen Dillon 19 abt 1842 Ireland Daughter

Frances Dillon 13 abt 1848 Scotland Son

This most certainly seems to be a match for the Francis Dillon buried with the Beattie’s at Holy Cross Cemetery. With further research, I found the same family 10 years earlier in the 1851 England Census.  In this Census, there is another daughter named Sarah with the family. But in this Census, it indicates that Francis was born in Ireland.  Inconstancies like this are not unusual in Census records, but it does make it difficult to confirm relationships.

Francis Dillon 38 abt 1813 Ireland Head of Household

Sarah Dillon 38 abt 1813 Ireland Wife

Sarah Dillon 15 abt 1836 Ireland Daughter

Ellen Dillon 9 abt 1842 Ireland Daughter

Francis Dillon 3 abt 1848 Ireland Son

By the time the 1861 Census was taken, the younger Sarah Dillon must have died, married or emigrated to America. In the 1871 English Census, the Dillon family seems to have disappeared from the Liverpool area.  No close matches could be found for any of the family members.  Does this mean they came to the US?

According to Lloyd Lewis’ notes, Francis Dillon “returned to Liverpool in 1880 and died about 1883″.  This seems to indicate that Francis Dillon Sr., was in America for at least a small period of time.  I did find him back in Liverpool in the 1881 Census.  The Census taker wrote his name as what looks like “Francis Delane”.  He was listed as a patient at the Catholic Institute at 70 Hope Street in Liverpool and is still listed as married.  His occupation was “Former Feather Merchant”.

Searching death registrations in the Liverpool area for the time period that Lloyd Lewis indicated he believed Francis Dillon died, I found a Francis Dillon who was 67 years old at death and was living at 70 Hope Street, the same address as above.  Taking 67 years away from 1883 gives us an approximate birth date of 1816.  This Francis Dillon’s death certificate also states that he was a feather dealer.  This information appears to confirm that the Francis Dillon in the Death Certificate is the same one in the 1851, 1861 and 1881 Census, leaving him missing from the 1871 English Census.

Hypothesis #1

So, the big question is…  Is there a Mary associated with the Dillon family of Liverpool that left before the 1851 England Census?  Both, the 1900 and 1910 US Census indicate that Mary Dillon arrived in the US in 1850 at the age of 16, one year before that 1851 England Census.  Her early arrival would explain why there is no Mary in the 1851 England Census of that Dillon family in Liverpool.  We also know what there is a Sarah McDermott buried with the Beattie’s who was born circa 1840 and lived to age 55..  Could Sarah Dillon have married a man named McDermott and / or had a daughter named Sarah?

Hypothesis #2

Or here is the other possibility… According to US Census records, Mary Dillon Beattie was born circa 1834. This is within 2 years of the Sarah Dillon in the 1851 English Census.  Sarah Dillon disappeared from the Liverpool Dillon family after the 1851 Census .  Could this mean that Sarah came to the US and decided to change her name or go by a middle name that could be Mary?

Conclusion

I tend to be leaning toward my first Hypothesis.  The  Dillons of Liverpool are somehow related, but I still lack the proof necessary to concretely make the call.  And if I am right, what happened to Mary Crilly Dillon, Mary Dillon Beattie’s mother? Was she  Mary Crilly Dillon or Sarah Crilly Dillon? Did she die in the United States?  Was it before or after Francis returned to Liverpool?  Did Francis return alone?  If so, why?  Was is because of a health issue?

]]> http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/11/17/looking-for-the-dillons/feed/ 0 http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/11/10/two-new-photos-indicate-two-tierney-branches-knew-each-other/ http://hayesfamily.us/index.php/2009/11/10/two-new-photos-indicate-two-tierney-branches-knew-each-other/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:54:25 +0000 Philip Hayes http://hayesfamily.us/?p=870 The other day I found two photographs that seem to link two branches of the Tierney family together. The pictures come from the collection of Frank Noel and May (Berry) Tierney who lived in Larchmont, New York.  Frank Noel Tierney  and Raymond A Tierney were first cousins, so it makes sense that they new of each other, but these are the first photographs connecting the two  families.

"Raymond Tierney and Family with Frank, Virginia and May"

In the photo above the woman on the far right is May Tierney.  Daughter, Virginia, is standing in front of her.  I believe Raymond Jr, has is back to the camera and is facing his mother, Marie Tierney (nee Cradock).  The man on the far left, with his head cut off, is either Frank Tierney or Raymond Tierney Sr.

"Marie Tierney and Children"

Greenwich artist overcomes dyslexia to pursue artistic passion

By Frank Maceachern
Staff Writer, Greenwich Times
http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_13604552
Posted: 10/20/2009 09:52:49 PM EDT

Michael Hone doesn’t know how to describe himself when it comes to his art.

“I don’t know what I would call myself — I just like to draw,” said the retired backhoe operator for the town who dropped out of school at the age of 16.

His work, which is on display at Cos Cob Library through the end of the month, revolves around his love of his Model T cars — of which he has three — junkyards and scenes of Greenwich that the town native remembers as a youth.

Hone, 65, an Old Greenwich resident and self-taught artist, infuses humor into many of his works, such as one in which he and his wife, Lynne, sit in a Model T watching a movie at a drive-in theater — except the theater is, in fact, his cluttered garage and the couple views the movie alone.

“You can see I’m asleep and she’s crying,” he said with a laugh about their respective interests in the movie.

High school sweethearts, he and Lynne married in 1970.

It’s that subject matter, drawing on scenes of everyday life, that puts Hone fin the category of a folk artist, according to a folklorist.

Gregory Sharrow, the director of education at the Vermont Folklore Center in Middlebury, Vt., said it’s a broad term and doesn’t simply mean someone who has not formally studied art.

“It’s that intimate personal expression and experience that makes it folk art,” Sharrow said.

For Hone, art was a way of coping with dyslexia, a learning disability that makes reading and writing difficult and traditional school in the ’50s and ’60s a trying experience.

“They just passed you on, that’s what they did in those days,” he said about being promoted to higher grades in the even though his dyslexia took a toll on his grades. “I was an awful student.”

Hone did whatever he could to avoid reading and writing in public.

“I was a good liar,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know how many times I said I had a problem with my eye or that I had to go to the bathroom. But I think the teachers knew.”

What the teachers also knew was that he had a singular gift for drawing.

“I think it was around Grade 3 that I knew I could draw when one of my teachers saw me and said I was doing a really good job,” Hone said.

The middle of five children born to Robert Emmett and Eloise, Hone said he believed he acquired his gift from his father, who would draw mechanical objects.

Hone can’t remember if he completed the ninth grade, but said his mother made the decision that he leave school and get a job.

“It was actually a waste of my time and my mother said it was time for me to get a job,” he said.

He was 16 years old when he dropped out, and for the next seven years he held a succession of jobs, such as a landscaper and working at the Greenwich Field Club where he did a number of jobs, from stocking shelves to tending bar.

Then the Army came calling.

In 1967, Hone was drafted as the Vietnam War raged. He said the Army’s attempt to turn him into a rocket specialist was a failure.

“I told them you’re wasting your time,” he said with a laugh. “Light a firecracker, no problem, light a rocket,” he said, his voice trailing off.

His dyslexia made it difficult to read and write quickly and he had to absorb a lot of information for the unit.

After three months of frustration, the Army decided he was right and Hone was transferred to a unit that stored and cared for ammunition.

He struggled to take notes on what an instructor wrote on a blackboard. That’s when his gift of art came in handy.

“I couldn’t write the stuff down fast enough, so I would draw a picture of what he was talking about,” he said.

One day an instructor caught him drawing during a class and slapped him because he thought Hone wasn’t paying attention, he said.

But Hone explained to the instructor that it was his way of taking notes. Intrigued, the instructor offered him the chance to illustrate a training manual for the unit.

“I said that would be great, but I got shipped out; I got ordered to go to California — they made a cook out of me. Oh boy, that was terrible,” he said.

He was sent to a base in Germany after his cook’s training.

“I lucked out, I really did, everybody else, or nearly everybody else, was going to Vietnam,” he said.

Near the end of his time in Germany he was transferred to the motor pool, as a mechanic, and tapped into his love of automobiles.

Fresh out of the Army, he returned to Greenwich in 1969 and got a job with the town’s parks and recreation department in November. He spent the next 34 years there before retiring in 2003.

He continued drawing, sometimes even on the job, when work was slow and there was some downtime, he said.

Hone has never thrown any of his drawings away.

“I have boxes and boxes of it at home.”

He began selling his works in the early 1980s, but said the business side of art is uncomfortable for him.

“That’s the hard part, selling it. I can draw it, but selling it is another story,” he said. “I am just not a very good salesman.”

But his original works in pen and ink and watercolor range from $500 for a smaller work to $1,100 for a larger 21-inch-by-30-inch canvas.

A portion of his collection is on display at the Cos Cob branch of Greenwich Library. The original works at the library are not for sale, but he is selling prints of his works.

In 1971, Mr. Lewis began his work with the elderly when he became founding executive director of the Kendal Organization in Kennett Square and established Kendal at Longwood, the first of the Kendal nonprofit life-care retirement communities.

Before that, Mr. Lewis worked at the Vanadium Corp. of America in New York for 11 years; the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia for about two years; and Pendle Hill, a Quaker adult-education center in Wallingford, for 11 years.

But it was his work at Kendal that inspired Mr. Lewis to devote the rest of his life to serving senior citizens. At the time of his retirement from Kendal six years ago, an estimated 2,000 seniors lived in Kendal properties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and New Hampshire.

Mr. Lewis worked to improve the living conditions of seniors nationwide with the restraint elimination program, called Untie the Elderly, and led the effort by eliminating restraints from all Kendal facilities.

After retiring from Kendal, Mr. Lewis established a new company, US Retirement Communities, where he worked until last year.

He was active in the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Homes for the Aging and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, where he served on the executive board, its continuing care committee and its public policy committee

Mr. Lewis also served on the American Gerontological Society, the Committee on Aging of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends, and Friends Services for the Aging in Philadelphia.

In addition, he served on the board of Swarthmore College, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1949, from 1985 to 1989 and again in 1990 until his death.

He was a bird-watcher and was a member of the Society of Friends.

Mr. Lewis is survived by his wife of 49 years, Eliza B. Lewis of Glen Mills; son Paul M. Lewis and daughter Laurie K. Lewis, both of West Chester; a sister; and two grandchildren.

Services are private. The family suggests contributions to either Swarthmore College or the Cape May Bird Observation Center for Research and Education, Cape May Court House, N.J.