The obituary below originally appeared in October in The Manchester Union Leader. It was written by Doug and Diane Kendall, Doug being a colleague of Lew's at Holderness School and Diane being Doug's wife. They were both with Lew at the end of this life. Lew visited Bloomington for extended periods each summer for forty years, made many friends here, and brought much enjoyment. He always joked that he would have three funerals: "One in New Hampshire; one in Springfield; one in Bloomington. You are only required to attend two." The Bloomington portion of Lew's ashes will be inurned in a ceremony at Trinity Episcopal Church, Bloomington, on Saturday, June 25, at 11 AM. They will be installed in a niche with those of Charles R. Forker, his partner.

Lewis "Lew" Overaker passed away at Concord Hospital in Laconia, New Hampshire, on October 26, 2021. Lew was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, or as Lew affectionately called it, the "Land of Lincoln." Though he spent more than half of his life in New England, he remained steadfastly proud of his Midwest heritage and visited often during summers and school breaks. He was known for his midwestern warmth and hospitality by all who knew him.

Lew was a lifelong scholar who started at a young age, earning the Harvard Book Award at his high school graduation. He went on to earn his Bachelor's degree in French at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, and continued with a Masters in French Literature from Indiana University in Bloomington. From there he pursued doctoral studies in French Literature while teaching at Ohio Wesleyan University, in Delaware, Ohio. He completed his Ph.D. at Ohio State.

In 1976 Lew came to teach French and Spanish at Holderness School, where he touched the lives and warmed the hearts of many hundreds of students in his forty-two-year tenure, and where he was affectionately known as "Dr. O." In addition to receiving numerous National Endowment for the Humanities summer grants, he received two yearlong sabbaticals from Holderness during one of which he taught for a year at the University of Tennessee at Martin and during another did research in French literature, writing and publishing a scholarly interpretation of Flaubert's A Simple Heart. Retiring from Holderness in 2008, he taught French at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, for four more years. While retired, he remained closely connected to Holderness School and was also a frequent substitute for his colleagues on the faculty there.

In addition to Lew's academic and scholarly pursuits, he was an active and dedicated member of several clubs and societies, among them the Guild of Scholars of the Episcopal Church, the Mayflower Society, the General Society of Colonial Wars, and the Union Club of Boston.

A man of deeply held faith, he was devoted to the Episcopal Church. At Holderness, Lew served as a crucifer and chalice minister for the Chapel program, even beyond his retirement. For years he was an active member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Plymouth and Ashland (formerly Church of the Holy Spirit), and he was known to occasionally wake early on Sunday mornings and drive to the Church of the Advent in Boston for its Anglo-Catholic liturgy and choral music.

Lew is survived by his three cousins, Bouvier Beale of Mill Valley, CA, Christopher Beale of Charlottesville, VA, and Ridgely Beale of Hampton Bay, NY.

Lew lived for his faith, friends, students, and poetry, and, for one week every May, the Kentucky Derby. His warmth, kindness, humor, and charm will be greatly missed.

Donations may be made to the Lewis J. Overaker Scholarship Fund at www.holderness.org.