Amelia "Amy" McNutt Lewis

Amelia “Amy” McNutt Lewis died July 8, 2026. She was born April 3, 1941 in Haleyville, Alabama to Ruth Alverson McNutt and Hershell William McNutt, Sr. In her first year, the family moved to Skyline Farms on Sand Mountain for teaching opportunities. During that year, Amy’s younger sister, Edna Ruth, was born. The following year, her family moved to Clarksville, Tennessee where her father took a teaching position at the Austin Peay Training School. The family grew further with the birth of Hershel William Jr. and Cecilia Elizabeth.

At the end of WWII, the family moved back to Haleyville, the home of Amy’s paternal grandparents. Before Christmas in her second year of school, the family moved to Washington, D.C. where her father served as Administrative Assistant to newly elected Congressman Carl Elliott. The family grew with the addition of a younger sister, Melanie Judith, in 1951. After moving to Birmingham, Alabama the following year, Amy completed her early education at Avondale Elementary School. While a student at Ramsey High School, she was inducted into the National Honor Society. Amy completed one year at Auburn University and subsequently married the late Les Haynes in September, 1962. Together they raised three children, Beth, Helen and Michael. Amy later entered Birmingham Southern College where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1968. She worked briefly at the Lyons-Harrison Research Building at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and coauthored a peer-reviewed journal article in renal physiology.

Amy and her family moved to Danville, Kentucky in 1977. She later joined the Kentucky Utilities (KU) energy company as an environmental chemist. Her duties ensured that power generating plants under her supervision met Environmental Protection Agency standards for air and water quality.

She was genuinely admired by her coworkers and gained the respect of her supervisors for her diligence and attention to details. Amy retired from KU in 2000 and joined the Knoxville, Tennessee firm, Environmental Services Corporation, as an emissions monitoring specialist. Her duties took her to all parts of the U.S. where she introduced her firm’s emission monitoring software to numerous utility

companies. Amy eventually moved back to Birmingham to be close to her beloved mother, children and grandchildren.

During preparations for a 50th Avondale Elementary School reunion in 2005, Amy came across the name of a long-lost “childhood sweetheart” living in Detroit, Michigan. They began a correspondence which eventually culminated in marriage. She and her newly-found husband, Joseph Lewis, settled in Hoover, Alabama and later joined Trinity United Methodist Church in nearby Homewood. Amy then became Trinity’s Director of Senior Adult Ministry, a post she he

ld for eight years. Her organizational skills resulted in the development of activities for seniors ranging from ceramic classes amd card playing groups to billiard sessions and luncheon gatherings. Senior trips she organized included visits to local sites such as the Southern Museum of Flight and various cultural venues to distant excursions including Dallas, Boston, the Canadian Maritimes, San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest. Because of Amy’s devotion to her seniors, this ministry became one of the most popular activities at the church

Amy enjoyed quilting in her early adulthood and later became a skilled Mah Jongg player. She enjoyed researching the history of her ancestors and developed a detailed genealogical map of maternal and paternal relatives dating back over two centuries. Amy’s beautiful soprano voice was a valued addition to the Trinity Singers group at her church.

Amy enjoyed a lifetime of religious contentment. She lived a godly life that ensured adherence to the tenets laid out in the Bible. She was respectful of the needs of others and spent many hours

volunteering for services such as Meals on Wheels and prison ministries. Amy actively taught Sunday School throughout the years and developed the first suicide prevention hotline in Danville, Kentucky. During her long terminal illness, Amy’s faith in God never wavered; she was completely prepared for her final journey to eternal peace.

Amy was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Cecilia McNutt Spritzer. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Joseph W. Lewis, Jr., her children, Beth Haynes Nabors, Helen Haynes Megginson (Joel) and Michael Cunningham Haynes, her siblings, Edna McNutt McWilliams (John), Hershel McNutt, Jr., Melanie McNutt Payne (Clif), Pam McNutt Whaley and beloved grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Services for Amy will be held at 11:00 o’clock at Trinity United Methodist Church, July 30, 2026, with visitation from 10 to 11 o’clock in the sanctuary. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Trinity United Methodist Church or to a charity of your choice.