Louis Sewell

Louis Barfield Sewell, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center.

He was born April 12, 1925, in Hornersville, Mo., to William R. and Bess Barfield Sewell.

In 1943, during his senior year of high school in Doniphan, Mo., Lou joined the Army Air Corps. He served as a navigator on a B17 during World War II.

After military service he began to pursue a career in education, having been inspired by his father, who was a superintendent of schools. Lou received a bachelor of science degree from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. He also attended the University of Cincinnati and Washington University in St. Louis under a National Science Foundation grant. He received a master of arts degree from Washington University. Additional postgraduate work was done at the University of Missouri-Columbia and at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Lou taught mathematics at the high school in Poplar Bluff, Mo., from 1956 to 1961. From 1961 through 1986, he taught in the mathematics department at Southeast University.

A devoted and active member of Presbyterian churches in Doniphan, Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau, Lou could be found singing in the choir, teaching youths and adult Sunday school classes, speaking as a lay pastor, serving as a church camp counselor or as a youth group adviser and fulfilling duties as a deacon and elder.

A ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church since 1957, Lou served in leadership positions not just locally but also at the regional and national levels, including his election as moderator of the Southeast Presbytery (PCUS) in the 1970s and his election twice as a general assembly commissioner. He also served several years on this Presbytery's nominating committee.

As an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau, Lou was instrumental in the development of Chateau Girardeau, beginning with a feasibility study in 1973, continuing with its incorporation as the Cape Retirement Community Inc. in 1975 and the completion of its construction in 1979. He was a member of the original Chateau Girardeau board of directors and served on the board until 1990, when he became a resident. Since then, he had served often on the Residents Council and the Chateau Foundation Board.

Lou also served as district chairman of the Osage District of Boy Scouts of America and had been a devoted supporter of Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services of Missouri.

Surviving is his wife, Betty Norman Sewell, whom he married May 11, 1996. Other survivors include a nephew, Robert L. Schram (Cathy) of Ellisville, Mo; a niece and great-niece, Stephanie and Staciana Stock of Wildwood, Mo.; a nephew, J.B. Weilepp of Springfield, Va.; two nieces, Victoria Baker (Jim) of Almond, N.C., and Susie Weilepp of Fairfield, Calif.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Sara Lawrence Sewell; a sister-in-law, Corinne Schram; a brother, Bill Sewell; and two sisters, Mary Sewell and Anna Ruth Porter.

Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau. A memorial service will follow at the church at 11 a.m., with the Rev. Dr. Kim L. Nelson officiating.

A committal service will take place at 2 p.m. the same day at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield. Full military honors will be provided by Missouri Honors Team.

Memorials may be sent to Chateau Girardeau Foundation, 3120 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO 63703, or First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 477, Cape Girardeau, MO 63702.

Online condolences may be made at fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.