Part of a Life Summary

     Robert was raised in a small farming and logging community in Washington state at the foot of the beautiful snow-capped Mt. Adams.  His father, Clarence Lewis, was born in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia and as a small boy came west as his parents migrated to Washington State.  His mother, Hazel Davenport Lewis, was from a family whose ancestors had been early converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah pioneers, and who had left their homes in the Logan, Utah area to establish a large lumbering enterprise in Hood River, Oregon.
    Robert came from two separate religious traditions.  His evangelical Christian background introduced the value of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and being a disciple of Jesus Christ.   Early in his life he also gained a conviction that the Book of Mormon was true and found no reason to deviate from faith in the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and the Golden Rule, but in fact found his faith and commitment to Christian discipleship enhanced and confirmed through the Book of Mormon and Latter-day Saint teachings.  When he was an older teen he was able to be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints.  He was a dedicated student of the scriptures and especially the Book of Mormon.  He served as a missionary in the North Central States Mission, the majority of the time in the Province of Manitoba, Canada.  He served in many Church assignments, including Bishop of the Taylorsville Gardens 2nd Ward in Taylorsville UT.  He worked for a number of years with Church programs for persons who were Vietnamese refugees.  With his wife Wendy, he served a senior mission in Raleigh North Carolina.  He served as a temple ordinance worker in the Jordan River, Provo, and Payson temples, and loved to study and perform the temple ordinances.
    He became interested in family history research through the influence of his Aunt Dorothy when he enrolled at Brigham Young University as a young men and began a life-long study of his Lewis and Agee ancestors, which eventuated in the publishing of 20 volumes of research findings about these people and many hours performing their temple work.  After retirement, he volunteered many hours of service as a consultant at the Spanish Fork FamilySearch Center and also taught classes about family history book publishing and organizing effective family history work in LDS wards and stakes.
    Robert was a registered scout leader for over 40 years, and loved the association with the young men and the Utah outdoors and lakes and mountains.  He worked with almost every age group, Scouts, Varsity, Exploring/Venturing, and was the leader of an eleven year old scout patrol and advisor to a Venturing Officers Association until close to his 80th birthday.  He gave service at the district and council levels and on a advisory committee to the Church’s general Young Mens organization.  He was a co-leader for many years of a popular yearly youth training camp, E2/Priests Leadership Conference, in the Taylorsville Utah area.  With his son Matthew, he maintained for many years a popular website, LDSScouting.org, which emphasized helps to leaders of the older boy scouting programs.
    From his early youth, Robert was attracted to music.  In high school he played trumpet and other brass instruments in the band and sang in the choir.  During his college years, he studied voice and sang with BYU Mens Chorus.  Over the years he participated in ward choirs and directed a choir for a time. He also sang with small groups or soloed for church occasions.  He was self-taught on the piano and guitar and had an interest in folk music from the South and from the early Church.  He composed a number of songs for his children and family.
    He also participated in sports and in exercise throughout his life.  He played football, basketball, and baseball in high school, and team sports when available in his wards.  He jogged and walked and tried to keep fit.  He followed Cougar and (to a degree) Ute sports, the Red Sox and the Rockies.
    Robert was valedictorian in his high school and acquired Bachelors and Masters degrees in psychology from BYU and Master and Doctor of Social Work degrees from the University of Utah.  He spent his entire working career with the Utah Department of Social Services, largely with Family Services, in administrative positions, doing planning, research and evaluation work, with a focus on social work manpower utilization, and service integration and effectiveness.  He did pioneering research on home-based services to strengthen neglectful families.  In the last years of his service he led a project to computerize child welfare management and reporting for the state.  He also had an adjunct teaching appointment at the U of U School of Social Work for a time.
    Above all, Robert loved his family.  He was privileged to marry two wonderful women...