It wasn’t just kids who were amazed by the World War II-era adventures of paratrooper Lewis Fern.
“We all knew of him, and those who served with him, by reputation,” said Carl Beck, a slightly younger fellow paratrooper. “We never soldiered together, but we all knew about the work they did.”
Fern and Beck, who both served in the Army, were part of the Atlanta World War II Round Table and often visited schools to give a little first-person perspective to history lessons.
“Sometimes he went with the group, but he also went on his own,” Beck said. “I guess it was word-of-mouth and he’d go and take a parachute. I think the kids loved the parachute.”
Dwight Fern, of Atlanta, lost count of the number of metro Atlanta schools his father visited over the years.
“He loved doing it, in part because he loved kids,” his son said. “But he also saw history being rewritten, to a degree, and he wanted to let people know they saved the world.”
Lewis Pettinger Fern of Atlanta died Aug. 6 at home in his sleep. He was 95.
A service was held Sunday at Clairmont Presbyterian Church, followed by entombment, with full military honors, at Arlington Memorial Park. A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home was in charge of services.
Fern’s military career began in 1941 when his draft number was chosen, his son said. During his five years of service, he attained the rank of captain and experienced combat in places such as North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, Beck said.
“He led men into battle,” Beck said of his friend. “He was one of the early jumpers, and one of the best.”
Fern, a native of New York, was an underwriter for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in New York, when he was transferred to Atlanta in 1953. Fern and his wife, the former Marion Davis, moved their family south and almost immediately got involved with youth groups through their church. He coached basketball and helped establish Little League baseball in DeKalb County, his son said. Fern said his father was part of a group who wanted to make sure there would be enough land for baseball fields as three major parks were being constructed.
“Dad knew kids needed a place to play and compete in sports,” Fern said, of his father. “He was in Little League for 20 years.”
But more than anything, Fern said, his father was driven by a life of service to his family and to God. Last month after a Sunday worship experience, the elder Fern greeted the relatively new pastor at Clairmont with a handshake and a question, his son said.
“He said, ‘What do you want me to do?’ ” the younger Fern recalled. “And later on I said, ‘Dad, what would you do at this point?’ and he said, ‘I can still talk to the younger men. I can still tell them about Jesus.’ ”
In addition to his son and wife of 72 years, Fern is survived by his son, David Fern of Roswell; brother Jack Fern of Orlando, Fla.; eleven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
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