Washington Adventist University Mourns The Death of Olga Lewis

Takoma Park, Md. (March 31, 2017) Washington Adventist University (WAU) is mourning the death of Olga Lewis, who served as the university’s Director of Career Services and Cooperative Education from 2005-2010.

“Olga will always be remembered as the consummate professional who dearly loved teaching career development, building relationships with employers, and placing students in meaningful internships that would enhance their careers,” says Fitzroy Thomas, Associate Dean of the Betty Howard Center for Student Success.  “But she was not all business. With her ready wit and hearty laugh, she was always ready to engage you in a discussion about history and politics. She made a lasting contribution to the development of the Career Services program at WAU.”

Everyone who spoke of her said that she was a dedicated Christian and became very involved in whichever church she attended, whether it was through singing in the choir, and working in Sabbath school.

“Olga Lewis was a professional educator and my friend,” says Joan Francis, Chair of the History and Political Studies Department and Director for the Center for Law and Public Policy. “She was generous, kind and an advocate for students. She bought a large home so she could have students over to socialize and relax away from campus. She possessed a calm spirit, but was very concerned about fighting for justice. She was compassionate and caring. Quite a few times, she opened her home to a group of faculty and staff for potluck dinners, so we could get to know each other better.”

Lewis died on March 13 in California, and her funeral will be held on Sunday, April 2, at the Loma Linda University Church at 12 p.m. Pacific Time. The services will be streamed on the church website.

Olga Lewis is survived by her daughters Andrea and Michelle, their husbands Dane Beckford and Clive Greenland, her grandchildren Genevieve and Macaiah, her brothers Lyndon and Paul McKoy, Niece Lianne, Nephew Aharon, and Parents Herman and Miriam McCoy.

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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s nine graduate and 42 undergraduate programs. The 2016 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.

Media Contacts:
Angie Crews, 301-891-4134, acrews@wau.edu
Donna Bigler, 240-286-1169, dbigler@wau.edu