Jerry Lewis of Hot Springs
Garvan Gardens honors retired aerospace engineer as Volunteer of the Year
Jerry Lewis retired as an aerospace engineer, spending a total of 37 years designing and building spacecraft. He’s still designing and building — just on a smaller scale.
These days Lewis, who is 78, volunteers a lot of his time at Garvan Woodland Gardens, where he has built a fairy village and other features for the holiday season. He has been named the Volunteer of the Year at Garvan Gardens.
“Jerry is one of the most dedicated volunteers we have had at Garvan Gardens,” said Susan Harper, visitor services director. “He has an incredible talent for design and building that he has shared in many projects, most notably the fabulous fairy village.
“He has over a thousand hours crafting interesting stumps into a fairy apartment with a honeymoon suite, a chapel, a playground and a lighthouse,” she said. “He has done other woodworking projects, as well as fabricating new holiday-lights features. When he’s not working behind the scenes, Jerry is meeting our visitors, driving cart tours and delighting children with our model railroad. He has a volunteer’s heart — a big one.”
Lewis said he was surprised and honored by the award. “Overwhelmed is how I felt,” he said. “They have a volunteer appreciation dinner every year (held this year on Oct. 23) and give out several awards. I knew I had a number of hours, but I really hadn’t paid that much attention to it. I ended up with the most hours — 1,527 hours, to be exact. I first received an award for that,” Lewis said.
“The second award I received was for Volunteer Extraordinaire for my work on the fairy village. I appreciated that award very, very much. The next surprise was when they called my name for Holiday Light Fabricator of the Year. That amazed me,” he said.
“Then it came time for the Volunteer of the Year award. I honestly thought since I had already been so well recognized that I would not win this final award, but I did. Three young girls dressed as fairies escorted me to the stage. That brought tears to my eyes,” Lewis said.
“I was overwhelmed. I greatly appreciate it. Anytime you can be recognized for your work is a great thing.
“I enjoy working here at the gardens. I enjoy talking to people about the gardens. I even drive a golf cart, taking people around on a tour of the gardens. I get a lot of satisfaction from that. I volunteer to do whatever I can.”
Lewis said he visited the gardens a little over a year ago, then began to volunteer.
“I initially drove the golf cart,” he said. “Last fall, I came and began to work on fabricating some of the holiday lights. In the spring, James Scallion talked to me about creating a fairy display.”
Lewis said Scallion had found a huge stump and asked him to come up with some ideas for it.
That first stump became the centerpiece of the village. Other stumps led to a chapel; a lighthouse, complete with a rotating lens; a playground; and a wing emporium where butterflies can get different wings.
“I let my imagination run wild,” Lewis said with a smile.
Lewis keeps detailed folders, complete with drawings, on each project.
Lewis was born in the small north-Texas town of Cundiff, which is northwest of Dallas.
“I was raised on a farm and went to a one-room schoolhouse for a while,” said Lewis, whose complete name is Jerry Glenn Lewis Sr.
When asked if he was ever kidded about his name — Jerry Lewis — being the same as the well known comedian, he said, “Not so much anymore. At first, I took a lot of ribbing. But now, there are so many people named Jerry Lewis. It’s never bothered me.”
Lewis and his family moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, where he attended junior and senior high school. He then attended the University of Texas and studied chemistry and math.
“I did not graduate,” he said. “I started my career at Convair (now known as General Dynamics) in Fort Worth. I worked on the development of structural adhesives for the B-58 aircraft.
“In 1960, I went to work for Martin Marietta (now known as Lockheed-Martin) in Denver and worked on the [Titan II and III] missiles. Shortly after that, I started my career in spacecraft programming.”
Lewis was a system design engineer during the Viking Lander design phase and was the Viking I Lander project engineer during build, test, launch, cruise and landing phases of Viking, the first lander on Mars, in 1976. He worked with the Viking program for 11 years.
Lewis said he eventually became a program director on various spacecraft programs. He retired from Martin Marietta when a project he was working on was moved to New Jersey. “I didn’t want to move there,” he said. After retiring, the Lewises moved to Rockport, Texas, which is on the Gulf of Mexico.
While the Lewises were in Rockport, he was involved in many volunteer activities, including the Aquarium at Rockport Harbor, the Maritime Museum, the Aquarium Education Center, the Rockport Cemetery Association and the Fulton Mansion.
Lewis received the 2011-2012 Citizen of the Year Award from the Rockport/Fulton Chamber of Commerce.
“I am very proud of that award as well,” he said, adding that he received the award, in part, for his work on the Rockport Cemetery.
“It is an old cemetery, dating back to the 1800s,” he said. “It has several hundred graves in it, and they had not been properly identified. I platted (mapped) the entire cemetery, so now people know where all of the graves are. I consider that one of my best accomplishments.”
The Lewises moved to Hot Springs to be closer to family members.
Lewis met his wife, DiAnne, in Wichita Falls. They will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary next year. They have four children — Lori Lewis of Littleton, Colorado; David Lewis, who is married to Sandy and lives in Bryant; Barry Lewis, who is married to Brenda and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jerry Glenn Lewis Jr., who is married to Kathy and also lives in Charlotte. Jerry and Dianne also have a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Lewis said he plans to expand the fairy village at Garvan Gardens in the spring, beginning with a castle for the king and queen of the fairies.
For those who have never been to Garvan Woodland Gardens, normal hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The gardens are closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and during January. The Holiday Lights display is open from 5-9 p.m. daily through Dec. 31, excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children 6 to 12, and free for children 5 and younger. Golf-cart rides are $15 extra per person.
For more information, call (501) 262-9300 or (800) 366-4664. Information is also available at garvangardens.
org.
I honestly thought since I had already been so well recognized that I would not win this final award, but I did. Three young girls dressed as fairies escorted me to the stage. That brought tears to my eyes. I was overwhelmed. I greatly appreciate it. Anytime you can be recognized for your work is a great thing.”
Jerry Lewis
HOT SPRINGS RESIDENT, ON WINNING GARVAN WOODLAND GARDENS’ VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD