Lewis Wilson "Lew" FOY

FOY “ Lewis W., 94, Lower Saucon Township, died on Friday, Jan. 16, 2009, at St. Luke’s Hospital, Fountain Hill. Lewis Foy was an American success story. Born on a farm in Shanksville in 1915, he became chairman and CEO of Bethlehem Steel. The son of George M. and Nellie (Speicher) Foy, he also was captain of his high school football team and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Foy was able to find a job as an accountant, and in 1936 began a job at Bethlehem Steel in the purchasing department and was later laid off. After a short sojourn as the owner of a golf driving range in Johnstown, Bethlehem Steel called Foy back to work. At the outbreak of Word War II, Foy enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private. He was to rise to the rank of captain and along the way he married his longtime sweetheart from Johnstown, Marjorie Werry. His beloved Marjorie passed away in 2004. After the war, Foy returned to Bethlehem Steel and moved rapidly up the ranks from assistant buyer in purchasing to become chairman and CEO. He was a member of Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem. He was a life trustee of Moravian College and served on the board of the United Negro College Fund. Foy served on many of the steel industry’s leadership boards and on the board of directors of Morgan Guaranty Trust, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., as well as several business and economic councils in New York and Philadelphia. Mr. Foy attended Duke University and received honorary degrees from Moravian College, the University of Liberia, Lehigh University and Valparaiso University. In 1980, The Lewis W. Foy Lecture Series was established in honor of Mr. Foy. The series provides University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown students and others in the community with firsthand learning experiences of networking with successful men and women in the business world. Lewis Foy will be sadly missed by his loving family and many devoted friends. Survivors include daughters, Susan F. Heller, and her husband, F. Arnold, Strafford, and Jane F. Karaman, and her husband, Joseph W., Beverly, Mass.; and three grandchildren, Louisa F. Heller, Washington, DC..; Susan H. Hallett, her husband, John T., and their daughter, Mary Elizabeth, Richmond, Va.; and Wilson Foy Karaman, and his fiancee, Lauren A. Danza, Brooklyn, N.Y. He also was preceded in death by his brother, John Foy. Memorial service will be held on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, at 11 a.m. at Old Chapel of Central Moravian Church, Heckewelder Place Bethlehem. Arrangements entrusted to Long Funeral Home, Bethlehem. Online condolences may be made at www.longfuneralhome.com. In memory of Lewis W. Foy may be made to Moravian College, Foy Concert Hall Endowment, c/o Moravian College, 1200 Main St., Bethlehem Pa. 18018.

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