Helen Irene McGreer Lewis, NGS Hall of Fame Nominee

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Helen Lewis, 1923-2017

The South King County Genealogical Society is thrilled to have the opportunity to honor one of our founding members by nominating her for the National Genealogical Society's Hall of Fame. Helen Lewis spent much of her genealogical career in service to other researchers, and because of this we believe she deserves to be in the national Hall of Fame. 


Helen McGreer: Early Life

Helen Irene McGreer was born 3 January 1923 in  Condon, Gilliam, Oregon. According to her obituary,

She was raised on a ranch in central Oregon where running water was a hand pump on the back porch and lighting was provided by kerosene lamps. She walked or rode a horse to a one-room schoolhouse in Clarno, OR until 8th grade. She boarded with an aunt to attend high school, graduating from West Seattle High School class of 1940. - https://www.rentonreporter.com/obituaries/helen-irene-lewis/

 

Family and Professional Life

After marrying Carl Lewis, an engineer with the Idaho Power Company in 1941, together they raised three children in Idaho. When in 1957 Carl got a job with Boeing,  the family moved to Seattle, and "Helen herself started a 30-year career with Boeing in 1958" according to her obituary. Even before retirement, Helen became a Charter Member of the South King County Genealogical Society as we became independent of the Seattle Genealogical Society in 1984. See our History page for more. 

Helen died 14 April 2017 in Renton, King County, Washington. 


Nomination to NGS Hall of Fame

Our nomination to the NGS Hall of Fame includes this summation of her service to all of us:

Helen Lewis' final years of service to genealogists and family historians were not only unfailing but also critical to the success of archives and genealogy and history groups in Washington state and beyond. She not only volunteered in her local societies and DAR, she indexed public records for the Washington State Archives as a volunteer for over 25 years. Her work lives on through the Washington State Digital Archives. 

She authored a number of books from which she gained no income; instead she assigned the proceeds to the South King County Genealogical Society. In her DAR work, she helped countless others as they worked to solidify their connection to American Patriots. She also served as a liason between the SKCGS and the DAR. 

 

Author 

Three of Helen's books are still available for sale from SKCGS: 

KING COUNTY MARRIAGE LICENSE REGISTERS

Volumes 5 - 10, 1889 - 1895, Compiled by Helen McGreer Lewis, 244 pages © 2004

Volumes 38 and 39, Dec 1916 - Sep 1917, abstracted by Helen McGreer Lewis, 200 pages © 1998

INDEX FOR LAKE COUNTY, CA MARRIAGE BOOKS 1-6 (1867-1935), Compiled by Helen McGreer Lewis, 198 pages, © 1999


Faithful Volunteer

Even as a volunteer, she was given star status by the paid staff of the Bellevue branch of the Washington State Archives and was honored on the occasion of her 94th birthday in their newsletter. The conclusion of this wonderful article says, Helen has turned a personal hobby into work that helps fulfill the mission of the State Archives and benefits her fellow genealogists and other researchers not only throughout the state, but around the globe. 


Helen Lewis pictured in her obituary

The photo chosen by the family for her obituary tells the story of Helen and her enthusiasm for her work at the Archives for all of us.

Rest in peace Helen Irene McGreer Lewis.



Valorie Zimmerman, with thanks to MaryLynn Strickland


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