EVANSTON — Anyone in Evanston who’s familiar with the VFW knows Denny and Nancy Lewis. The two have done so much for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4280, and spend so much time there, that it’s hard to even think about the VFW and not think of them.

After dating for eight years, the two were married on Aug. 7, 1998, at Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, during one of their many adventures around the country together. 

Nancy got married when she was very young, and got divorced about a year later. 

“I was divorced probably 25 years before Denny and I got married, so it just worked,” she said.

Nancy Pierce Lewis was born Sept. 25, 1958, and she was raised in Evanston. She said the happiest time of her life was spending time with her animals on her family’s ranch when she was little. Her family raised hereford cattle as well as sheep.

Denny Ray Lewis was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on Jan. 5, 1946. He grew up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It was because of a company transfer during the boom that Denny moved to Evanston.

“Evanston isn’t as hectic as it was during the boom in ’82,” said Denny. “It’s slowed down a bit since then, but it was wild back then.”

During the boom, the population of Evanston nearly doubled. The 1980 census counted 8,300 people in the city of Evanston, while in 1970 the population was just 4,400.

Nancy has bartended for a big percentage of her life, which is how she met Denny in 1982, at Lotty’s. 

“We kind of hung out with the same group of friends and we’d go to the same social events,” said Nancy. 

“We played in a pool league and a dart league,” said Denny. 

Long before the couple lived in the same area, they led different lives, with different histories. 

Nancy said she remembers one side of the VFW being the Ranch Café and there was a lot more dirt in Evanston back then.

“I just remember my mom would dress all six of us girls that were real close in age alike and we would come to town for Labor Day to watch the parade,” said Nancy. “It was a big deal back then; of course I was only 4 years old.”

She said where McDonald’s and a lot of the fast food restaurants are now, was just a big dirt field where they would set up carnivals. She said a girl she knew as a kid used to ride her horse to school and “park it” there during class. 

Denny’s earlier years were a little different. He joined the Marine Corps right after he got out of high school. He was in the Marines for four years, spending 20 months in Vietnam. 

“I’m glad I did it,” he said, “but I wouldn’t do it again.”

Denny was 22 when he had got out of the service. He headed to California to go to junior college, thanks to the GI Bill. After two weeks, he said he gave it up because he didn’t like California at all. 

“It was probably about a year after that that I decided to settle down. I wanted to party a little bit, because I got out of the service right as I got back from Vietnam. I wanted to relax a little,” Denny said.

Denny has two daughters from his first marriage who are both EHS graduates. One now lives in Louisiana, and the other daughter lives in Kentucky. He said he’s a happy grandpa.

“The happiest thing that ever happened to me was having my granddaughter born on my birthday and having her named after me,” he said.

In 1994, the company Denny worked for transferred him to Hawkins, Texas. Nancy and Denny were there for a little more than 12 years. They came back to Evanston in 2007, and Denny retired. 

“[Nancy] was originally from here and I always liked it here so we decided to come back here,” Denny said.

Now the VFW bar manager, Denny said retirement has been busy.

“At first, I was elected quarter master, and I was the quarter master for three years and then they asked me if I would be the bar manager, so I took over [as] bar manager,” he said. “It was too much doing them both so I had to choose one or the other.”

VFW patrons will find Nancy’s friendly and familiar face tending the bar. 

Denny said he’s getting tired and wants to enjoy his retirement a little more. 

Denny said he plays a lot of pool these days, and the Lewises like to fish. But their favorite thing to do is travel, which they said is something they wish they could do more of. 

“We really like to travel, but it’s hard to be here at four o’clock every day and travel,” said Nancy. 

The Lewises have been all over the country.

“[Denny] used to get about five to six weeks of vacation all at once,” Nancy said, “so we would start at one place and head either east first or west first, and drive across the country and head down to Utah and Vegas, down through southern Texas and back up. We would go about 8,000 miles in around five weeks.” 

The two even made their way to Mexico a few times. In fact, Nancy said if she could go anywhere in the world, she would go to Mexico again, back to the Spa Palace, a luxury hotel located south of Cancun.

“They took very good care of us,” Nancy said. “The bartenders loved us.” She said they had something special waiting for her every day. “It was a treat; very relaxing.” 

These days, the Lewises go to Wendover every few months to spend some time there. Nancy enjoys reading, and together the Lewises enjoy trying new foods everywhere they go.

“That’s why I was excited when Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds got Rocky Mountain oysters,” Nancy said. “Whether it’s Rocky Mountain or real oysters, we love oysters. We enjoy them thoroughly.”

The Lewises have been working at the VFW since 2008, opening and closing it every day. It opens daily at 4 p.m. and closes when business slows. Sundays, however, are busy as it’s their bingo day. The bar isn’t only for veterans to enjoy, but everyone. 

“The VFW is open to the public because if it wasn’t we wouldn’t be able to survive,” Denny said. “We can’t get the younger veterans to join, so it’s all WWII and [Korean War veterans], who are just about all gone. Now it’s just the Vietnam veterans who are running it right now.” 

“They’ll realize someday what the VFW does for them,” Denny continued. “In Congress they’re always pushing for veteran rights and benefits, but the VFW does more of that than anybody.” 

Denny said another thing that makes him proud to be a member of the VFW is attending the military funerals. 

“Anybody who is in the service deserves a military funeral,” said Denny. “We probably average about 50 of them a year.”

During a military funeral, members present the flag, perform a 21-gun salute and play “Taps.” 

“All veterans deserve that. It’s an honor to do it,” Denny said. 

Before being completely satisfied with the lives they have lived thus far, Nancy and Denny said they would like to travel more. 

“I’d like to have a full retirement without working at all,” said Denny as he laughed.

“Take it as it comes,” Nancy said, “you just never know what’s going to come up.”