October 15, 2019 —
When he was a junior in high school, Lew Charnock was a caddy at the golf club where his uncle was
a member. “Carrying two golf bags 7,000 yards a day was not easy,” he says, no doubt recalling sore
feet and blazing sun. For the last thirteen years, however, Lew’s feet have been enjoying the rhythm
of ballroom dancing. “I like the people we’ve met, and its non-competitive nature is naturally stress relieving. I also get physical exercise,” he adds. He and his wife attend about twenty dances a year.
Long before he took to the dance floor, Lew received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel
University and became a member of the US Army Corp of Engineers, designing and building a 14-mile, 6-inch water pipeline in South East Asia, necessitated by water supply wells going dry. Following a yearlong rotational assignment at a refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa., Lew was able to transition into working in human resources and developed his expertise in the industry over the next 40 years.
His industry experience and his mother’s 5-year residence at Barclay Friends eventually brought him to the Board of Directors. At the time that Lew’s mother had a stroke—in the year 2000—he was working for Sunoco as Manager of Labor Relations, dealing with unions representing over 10,000 employees. As so many of our family members here have realized, she couldn’t live by herself anymore and needed to move to assisted living. When asked to join the board, Lew thought, “Mom got such good care at Barclay Friends; I wanted to give back.” As a member of the board, Lew serves on the Facilities Committee and Board Governance Committee and has been a staunch advocate for Barclay Friends employees and their recognition.