Graves Lewis Boylston, born in Greenville, SC, and resident of Huntsville, AL, passed away at the age of 81 in the early morning of Sun. Feb 26th at Huntsville Hospital. His loving wife of 59 years and his three devoted daughters sat bedside.
Lewis earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Furman University in Greenville, SC, and was a member of TKE fraternity. He lived a full life that included a military career, rising to the rank of LTC. in the Army Chemical Corps. He served in Korea and Vietnam, was stationed twice in the Panama Canal Zone, and worked at NORAD inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs. As a marksman, Lewis won numerous awards at Camp Perry, Ohio, in the National Rifle and Pistol Championships and other competitive matches. He was also a graduate from the Army Command and General Staff College in 1976.
After retiring from the military in 1979, he worked with Redstone Arsenal for 36 years as a self-taught engineer and government defense contractor. His last title was Site Supervisor of the Lab Sensors Test Division of the Redstone Test Center. He was awarded a plaque for “United States Army Contractor Tester of the Year” in 1991 from the American Defense Preparedness Association. He retired in 2015 on his 80th birthday.
Lewis was a dedicated family man and a valued mentor to friends. His diverse hobbies and interests included wood working and knots, fiddler’s conventions, cooking, computers and cutting edge technology, as well as a life-long love of books and learning. He was a hockey and a “Rolltide” football fan, enjoyed science fiction and mysteries, and belonged to the HPCUG and the TVNUG computer clubs. Lewis had a great sense of humor—his honest sincerity and calm logical nature provided a valuable legacy to his family. A sampling of his personal truisms includes:
If you can’t fix it, rig it. Always read with a pencil in hand. Dinner always starts with an onion. Engage brain before opening mouth. The past is for lessons learned. After that objective is achieved any further thought about the past is detrimental for success.
It’s impossible to capture the essence of a man in a few paragraphs, but we believe that his modesty would be okay with that. As he jokingly pointed out, “I’m past my expiration date.”
Lewis Boylston, son of the late Frances Elizabeth and Lucian DeMont Boylston, is survived by his wife, Dianne, and his daughters: Christine (and her husband Jim Ferris), Kathy, and Julie (and her partner Darren Abrams). He will be dearly missed by his grandchildren: Andrea and Kevin Ferris and Kali and Erika Richmond. He also leaves two sisters: Frances Boylston Milner and Elizabeth (Betty) Boylston. His brother Monty Boylston predeceased him. There will be a visitation at the Laughlin Funeral Home on Thursday, March 2, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
