Lewis Michael Sherer Jr.

He was born on April 11, 1929, to Lewis M. Sherer Sr and Gertrude B. Sherer in Dayton, OH. Lew graduated from Saint John’s College High School in Washington DC in 1947 where he was awarded the rank of Colonel. This was the highest rank of his graduating class, and he was the leader of the regiment. He attended college at the Catholic University of America, graduating in 1951 with a degree in economics. Following college, Lew served his country in the US Army Signal Corps and was assigned to a unit in Arlington VA. He joked he was able to go home every night for dinner. In 1950 he began dating Stella Marie Davis, the love of his life. They married in 1953, and, after several honeymoon years, they started a family of their own and were blessed with four wonderful children, Bill, Bob, Karen and Laurie. In 1954, Lew began his hotel career as a sales manager at the Sheraton Wardman Park Hotel. He was with Sheraton for seven years and rose to the level of Director of Sales at Wardman Park. In 1963, he began working for Hot Shoppes-Marriott, the forerunner of Marriott International, as Director of Sales at the Twin Bridges Marriott Motor Hotel. This began a 28-year career that would take the Sherer family to metro New York City, Boston, New Orleans, Washington DC, and Dallas. Lew served Marriott as a six-time General Manager and as Regional Vice President. His favorite assignment was as General Manager of the New Orleans Marriott, which at the time was the largest hotel in the Marriott system, the city of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, and the Southern United States. Lew served as President of the Louisiana Hotel & Motel Association and on the Board of Directors of Visit New Orleans. Lew retired in 1991 after having worked in the hospitality industry for 37 years. Following his career, he continued to mentor new and small business owners through his work with the Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE). In retirement, Lew and Stella enjoyed traveling, social events with friends, and involvement with various activities and groups at Prince of Peace Catholic Church. As he got older, he enjoyed simpler pleasures like completing three daily crossword puzzles, watching the Wheel of Fortune, and the Game Show Network. Always witty, Lew had a way with words and always had a great story or joke to share. He was completely dedicated to his family and was a wonderful husband and father. He was deeply devoted to his Catholic faith and to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He is survived by his loving wife Stella of almost 72 years; children Bill (Shira), Bob (Angela), Karen (Bobby Rayne), and Laurie (Jason Finkenbiner); grandchildren Lewis, Joseph, Lauren (Merrick), Christine, Lukas, Elliot, and Blake; sister Anne Jackson, brothers in-law Mike Davis (Kay) and Hugh Ferguson; and numerous nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, July 17th, at 11:00am at the Prince of Peace Catholic Church, 5100 West Plano Parkway, Plano TX 75093. In addition to flowers, donations can be made in his name to the Wounded Warrior Project.