Walter Lewis “Lew” Cressler Jr. ’60

Walter Lewis “Lew” Cressler Jr. ’60 of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, died on October 17, 2021. Lew was born on March 3, 1938, to Walter and Helen Cressler. At Dartmouth he was secretary of Delta Kappa Epsilon and member of the Army ROTC program. He graduated in 1960 with a degree in mathematics. Commissioned in the U.S. Army, he went on to have a 26-year career as an Army intelligence officer, rising to the rank of full colonel. His military career included tours of duty in Vietnam, West Germany, and Okinawa, Japan. He had two assignments at the Pentagon with the deputy chief of staff for intelligence. He was awarded multiple commendations for his service. He earned master’s degrees in systems analysis and business administration. Upon retiring from the Army in 1986, he built a durable medical equipment operation called CressCare Medical. He then earned a J.D. in 1994, spending eight years practicing family law in Newport, Pennsylvania. After retiring from this third career in 2002, Lew dedicated himself to family activities. He wrote a genealogy titled Hans Philip Kressler of Colonial Pennsylvania and Many of His Descendants, 1732-2012, which became a treasured item among his family. He met his wife of 62 years, Anita Lane Latham, while they were in Newport High School. She survives, as do sons Walter III ’88, Dana, and Michael.