Community mourns loss of recreation pillar

Former longtime Warner Robins Parks and Recreation Director, Claude Lewis, passed away Sunday morning.

A native of Macon, Lewis was born in 1926. He graduated from Lanier High School and then went on to serve in the U.S. Army K9 Corps for two years during World War II. He was married to Mary (Fussell) and together, they had two daughters, Maria and Donna. He later graduated from Mercer University.

Lewis began his career as an assistant superintendent of recreation with the Macon Recreation Department in 1956. He was appointed as superintendent of Warner Robins Parks and Recreation in 1958. The recreation department that Lewis came to head up was a building and one ball field. Lewis built the recreation department — buying land and building facilities, along with developing programs, services and athletic teams. He also invented a new game for the recreation department based on his high school coach’s batting practice.

Lewis came up with a game that eliminated a pitcher; instead, letting players hit a tennis ball off of a batting tee. He formed a league for the game in 1958, and 20 kids signed up to play. The game is known as tee ball. Lewis wrote the rules for the game, sending copies of the rules all over the United States and as far away as Israel and the Philippines. In June 2007, he was invited by then President George Bush to participate in a tee ball celebration on the White House lawn. The Warner Robins Recreation Department was recognized as the Outstanding Recreation Department in the state in 1963, 1968 and 1986. Later in 2007, Claude Lewis was inducted into the Georgia Recreation Hall of Fame.

After he retired, Lewis coached baseball and volunteered at Warner Robins High School football games for 25 years. To honor his accomplishments and contributions, the tee ball field at Flint Energies Complex was named the Claude Lewis Field. The recreation center building also is named for Lewis. He was inducted into the Warner Robins Hall of Fame in 2013, and the new sports complex that is currently under construction is also named in his honor.

Houston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said Lewis impacted many lives and will be missed dearly.

“Mr. Lewis was the father of recreation in the city of Warner Robins and the county; he built it from the ground up,” Stalnaker said. “He had an outstanding department, and it was known statewide when he was the director. I had the opportunity of interning with him when I was a senior in college. After I graduated college, I came back to the county here and worked in the county recreation department. I learned an awful lot from him. Not only when I was interning with him, but also when I worked around him. He touched a lot of lives throughout his career; not only children’s lives, but adults as well. He just made a positive impact on the city of Warner Robins and the county as a whole. He impacted a lot of lives, and he has laid the foundation for others to build upon.”

Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms said he remembered Lewis when he participated in the recreation programs as a kid, and later got to know him better as an adult.

“Warner Robins has lost a true icon,” Toms said. “He was a very loving and kind man, but he also made you go by the rules, and he was tough as a coach,” he said, laughing. “But he was still so kind-hearted and really cared about the lives of young people. He was a get-it-done kind of guy as well. I remember one time he told me that he blocked the entrance of Robins Air Force Base trying to raise money, and he was told he couldn’t do that, and he then said, ‘Well, I was told to raise my own money.’ Mr. Lewis is one you could sit around for hours listening to his stories and learning so much from him. I am going to miss him very much, and I know I speak for many in thanking him for his service to our country and our city.”

Jarred Reneau, present director for the Warner Robins Parks and Recreation Department, said he hopes to leave a great legacy as Lewis did.

“I’ve known him since I was child growing up,” Reneau said. “I spent a lot of time with him and his daughters growing up in little league baseball. He and his wife mentored so many. Everything he did, and the legacy he left behind, is something I would love to be able to leave Warner Robins one day and have that same kind of impression on people and influence on kids. What he did for the community is amazing. I remember stories of him going to every extreme to help the department grow. He will be very well missed, and never forgotten.”

Visitation will be held on Friday, May 15, 2020 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Homer J Walker Civic Center (700 Watson Blvd, Warner Robins, Ga. 31093). A funeral service will be held on Friday, May 15, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the same location. A burial will be held on Friday, May 15, 2020 from 3:15 PM to 3:30 PM at the Parkway Memorial Gardens (721 Carl Vinson Pkwy, Warner Robins, Ga. 31088).

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