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Submitted: 7/12/08 • Approved: 4/28/11 • Last Updated: 11/30/21 • R35643-G0-S3
LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE US Navy
June 15, 1932 - November 4, 2005
*Obituary
from the archives of the Jonesboro Sun
Dr. Lewis Abernathy
DENTON, Texas -- Dr. Lewis "Dugan" Abernathy, 73, of Denton, formerly of Jonesboro, died at his residence in Denton on Friday, Nov. 4.
He was an economics professor at the University of North Texas and a Navy veteran. He was born at McComb, Miss., to Andrew and Marianna McLaurine Abernathy before being raised in Jonesboro and graduating from Jonesboro High School. Lewis was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Denton.
Survivors include his wife Mary Alice Abernathy of the home; two sons, Lewis Abernathy Jr. of Denton and Matthew Abernathy of Denver, Colo.; a daughter, Marifrances Casey of Celeste, Texas; a brother, Dr. Andrew H. Abernathy III of Atlanta, Ga.; four stepchildren; five grandchildren; and nine stepgrandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Langford-Bookout Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Tommy Toombs officiating. Burial will be in Oaklawn Cemetery in Jonesboro.
Langford-Bookout Funeral Home of Jonesboro is in charge of arrangements.
Visitation will be from 12 noon until service time today at the funeral home.
Memorial may be made to the Lewis Abernathy Scholarship fund at the University of North Texas in Denton.
*Obituary
Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, Texas
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Lewis M. Abernathy
Lewis M. Abernathy, immediate past chairman of the UNT Department of Economics, died at his home in Denton on Friday, Nov. 4, 2005. He was 73 years old. Burial was at Oakwood Cemetery in Jonesboro, Ark., on Wednesday, Nov. 9. A memorial to honor Professor Abernathy will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the Silver Eagle Suite in the UNT Union.
He began his academic career at the University of Mississippi, studying economics and business while supported by a basketball scholarship. He received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration in 1954 and returned to the University of Mississippi and completed his M.B.A. in 1959. After the completion of his M.B.A., he moved to the University of Oklahoma and began working on his Ph.D. in economics. He worked as a teaching assistant and instructor at the University of Oklahoma while completing his coursework. When he reached A.B.D. status, he left Oklahoma for what was then North Texas State University. He served as an instructor in the Department of Economics and Sociology while completing his dissertation. In 1967, he completed his dissertation, received his Ph.D., and became an assistant professor of economics at North Texas State.
His move from Norman, Okla., to Denton in 1963 began a period of over 30 years of leadership and service to the Department of Economics at UNT. In 1969, Lew was promoted to associate professor. The next year, he took over as director of the Manpower Institute and Industrial Relations Institute. In 1977, while continuing to direct the Manpower Institute, he took the position as director of the Institute of Applied Economics. He continued in this role until 1984, when he was promoted to full professor and became the chairman of the Department of Economics. He served as chairman of the Economics Department through 1994, but added the responsibilities of director of the Labor Education Program from 1990-1995 and director of the Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations from 1991-1995. He remained actively involved in the department especially in the area of labor education until his retirement in 1999.
Lew’s passion was labor education. In 1976, he was selected to serve on Vice President Walter Mondale’s Council on Youth Employment. The Institute for Applied Economics and its subsidiaries he directed, the Manpower Institute and Industrial Relations Institute, were selected by the U.S. Department of Labor to serve as the Labor Market Information Training Institute. Abernathy and the other members of the institute provided training for CETA personnel nationwide. These labor training programs continued into the 1980s with two-to-four day workshops being conducted all over the U.S. The labor training programs were adapted for the needs of the state of Texas in the late 1980s. In 1990, with the support of the Department of Labor and the Texas AFL-CIO, Lew coordinated a statewide conference on the Joint Training Partnership Act. This evolved into a statewide Labor Education Program supported by the Texas Legislature and the Texas AFL-CIO. These programs were responsible for training thousands of individuals and generated over $1.5 million in state and federal support. His involvement in these programs resulted in the creation of national training manuals on Labor Market Information and Employment Program Planning. In addition, the materials developed for the Labor Education Program in Texas are still in use today for workforce reorganization and training of shop stewards.
Memorials may be made to the Lew Abernathy Scholarship Fund, c/o the Department of Economics, P.O. Box 311457, Denton, TX 76203.
Contributed on 7/12/08 by tiredtech3
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Record #: 35643