2. Lewis Winchell BIEBIGHEISER
was born on 2 Apr 1914 in New York City, New York Co., N.Y.. He died on
8 Jan 1992 in Dayton, Montgomery Co., OH. Lewis was a typesetter for Dayton
Typographic Service from 1956 to about 1973.
He also was a wood engraver and once own and operated his own business in Chester,
N.J. called Griffin Press.
The following article ran in The Dayton Daily News on May 10, 1982
Area man has designs on origami
Eight years ago Lew Biebigheisers fingers danced over linotype
keys at the Dayton Typographic
Service.
Today , the same fingers of the Dayton resident make origami , which are
Japanese folded paper designs.
Origami originated in Japan around 56-60 A.D. Biebigheiser, of 828
Meredith St. said. I got interested when, as a linotyper, I was setting type
on a story about a Japanese fellow who folded paper. I became interested in it
and looked up information on origami. It is considered an art form.
But I had trouble getting the information. Finally, a five minute
walk from here, I found a book shop which sells both origami paper and books
( on the subject.)
BIEBIGHEISER, ( whos known as Papa-Lew to grand-children and friends)
does most of his work on the kitchen table in the house he shares with his wife
,Mary.
On his dining room table there was a stork with flapping wings. He had
a black and white penguin and a black and white dressed nun. He had dogs, two
Japanese flowers resembling tulips ( it took me two months to master the fold
on these flowers) and small flowers, as well as small objects which could be
used as nut cups ---all folded by hand.
The paper I buy especially for origami is supposed to be square but often
it isnt,
and I have to trim it, Biebigheiser said. I always carry scissors around with
me. But I never use scissors or paste in my work. Its all folding.
One reason Papa Lew may be so dexterous is because he is a former magician.
But I had to stop magic shows 20 years ago, because of arthistis in my hands,
he said.
Biebigheiser does sell some of his creations and has given demonstrations
for
many groups. Recentlyhas was at the Farmersville Elementary School Art Circus.
THE YOUNGSTERS WERE really interested, he said. For awhile, he
did origami in the Harmony House, a neighborhood house which was started after
the Dayton riots of the 1960s.
I was asked to show some retarted people how to fold paper. They werent
allowed to use scissors or anything. They did very well, he said.
And origami, Biebigheiser said, takes patience.
I found that out when I demonstrated it to a nursery school. I had
the children making coasters. I thought the children were much older, they did
so well, and was amazed when the director told me the children were two-years
olds,he said.
Making something from origami takes from two minutes, such as a bud
to three hours.
The three -hour project was a two masted, full-rigged sailing ship, which
Biebigheiser said he did to see if I could do it. But I didnt do it quite
to my satisfaction.
The Biebigheisers often eat at the Metro Gardens Senior Citizen Center
and I fold a lot while Im waiting for service. Then I dont notice whether
its slow or not, he said with a laugh.
BIEBIGHEISER ADMITS that two animals defeat him-- a horse and a cat. But
one time on WKEF-TV,while the station was still affiliated with ABC, he was demonstrating
his craft and he made a peacock---the symbol of a rival network NBC, with which
WKEF is now affiliated.
I must have been psychic, he said.
A native of New York City, Biebigheiser was reared in Morristown, N.J.
He graduated from high school in 1932.
There was no way for me to go to college, though I wanted to. I hitchhiked
around the country----went
to the Chicago Worlds Fair. I lived for a month in Montreal, working in
a restaurant for a Scot who spoke
only French, he said. he also worked on a newspaper in Winston-Salem, N.C. for
nine years before coming to Dayton in 1956.
Biebigheiser has two children from a previous marriage, as does his wife,
and they have two children of their own, plus 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren
scattered all over the United States, Biebigheiser said.
I spent two weeks with one of our children and spent a lot of time showing
one of my granddaughters origami. She said it helped her a lot when it came to
trigonometry.-----
By Ellen Hawk, Dayton News special writer.
He was married to Mary Belle MONTGOMERY on 31 Oct 1950 in Greensboro, Guilford
Co., N.C..
3. Mary Belle MONTGOMERY was born on 18
Apr 1910 in Patrick Co., VA.
Children were:
1 i.
Bertha Boyd BIEBIGHEISER.
ii. Sarah
Elizabeth BIEBIGHEISER was born on 1 Aug 1954 in Winston-Salem, Forsyth Co.,
N.C..