Alva Lewis was born on November 12, 1931 in High Knob, Kentucky to Pearl and Namar (Garrison) Lewis. He enlisted in the US Air Force in 1950, and was stationed in San Francisco, CA and then onto Honolulu, Hawaii. In Honolulu, he graduated from McKinley High School, and then was honorably discharged. He then came back home and attended Union College in Barboursville, KY. Then he moved to Ohio in 1955, and started working for General Motors. He met his wife, Joyce Carol Meyer, and together they had 2 children, Jerry and Gale. Joyce and Alva were married for 47 years.
At G.M., he was a millwright, and it was hard, dangerous work, but paid well. He retired after 42+ years with the company, but never really stopped working. He enjoyed working outside in the garden, tinkering with things in his barn, traveling, and staying busy. He was a true extrovert.
After his wife Joyce passed away, he joined match.com, where he met Elizabeth. They immediately fell for each other, and were married on Oct. 24, 2005. Elizabeth has 5 children, Thomas, Deborah, Saundra, James, and Sheryl.
He is preceded in death by his parents; brothers John, Arthur, and Lawrence Lewis; his first wife, Joyce Meyer; and son, Jerry Lewis.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Ann McCraw-Lewis; daughter Gale Skinner; step-children Thomas Jacob (wife Megan), Deborah Earle, Saundra Young (husband Ron), James Jacob, and Sheryl Edwards (husband Kerry); 16 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; brothers Phares A. Lewis and Zethel Lewis; sisters Datha Joy Greatman and Polly Marlene Westrick; and many other relatives and friends. He will be greatly missed.
