Lewis Charles Hedges

Lewis C. Hedges, 86, passed away on February 24, 2013, in Arlington, VA, of injuries from a fall on February 4. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Jean Kyle Hedges; sons Kyle, Blair and Hampton, and daughter Susan; and four grandchildren, Elizabeth, James, Sam, and Olivia. A memorial service was held at Clarendon United Methodist Church, 606 N. Irving St. , Arlington, VA, on Saturday, March 2, at 11 a.m. with reception following. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association , 800-272-3900. Lew was born in Washington, DC, in 1926, and spent most of his life in this area. From age 3 to 8 he lived in Atlantic City, NJ, the home of his paternal grandparents. He attended McKinley Technical High School in Washington, DC. Upon graduation in June of 1944, less than a month after his eighteenth birthday, he entered service in the Navy. It was the final years of World War II. He went to boot camp and electrical school, and by March of 1945 was at work unloading casualties of Iwo Jima from ships at Pearl Harbor. Shortly thereafter he was sent to the island of Saipan. When he returned from the war he attended American University for a year. He was an outstanding competitive swimmer and won many medals, including three gold medals in the Mason-Dixon Conference. In the late 1940s Lew attended Capitol Radio Engineering Institute (CREI) where he learned electronics theory. With his training at CREI and the hands-on radio experience he acquired growing up the son of a commercial radio operator, Lew was well prepared to take a job in the new technology of television. In the fifties he honed his TV repair skills. It was during this time he met and married Jean Frances Kyle, of Galax, VA, and at that time a school teacher in Fairfax, VA. Their son Kyle was born in 1955 and their son Blair was born in 1957. In 1960 their daughter Susan was born and Lew opened his own TV sales and service business on North Jackson St. in Arlington, VA. Their son Hampton was born in 1962. Through his constant hard work the TV business was successful and supported the family well into the 1980s when Lew retired. Lew found a second career as a tax preparer at H and R Block, in which he worked until the early 2000s. His enthusiasm for preparing tax returns derived from his enjoyment of talking with people, learning about their lives, and helping them whenever he could. Lew loved biking, canoeing, and swimming, and took his family on many adventures in these sports. His love of history led him to visit many historic sites. He loved talking with people and had an insatiable appetite for learning. He never knew a stranger. Lew was a good man.