Lewis Kenneth Hammond

Lewis Kenneth Hammond was born in Atlanta on February 26, 1931, the first live child of Hal Lewis Hammond and Monteen Graham Hammond; he died August 31, 2025. He attended Hapeville (GA) public schools, serving as editor of the Hapeville Hornet student newspaper under the direction of his mentor, Miss Melvina Wells. Kenneth attended the University of Georgia, graduating in June 1952, cum laude, with a degree in English and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. He began a Master’s of English degree, serving as an Instructor from 1952-53, when he was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1953. He did his basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. In early 1954, he was selected for the Counter Intelligence Corps, with training at Fort Holabird in Baltimore, Maryland. In July 1954, he married Joan Adkins and immediately reported for his CIC duty in Birmingham, Alabama. They welcomed their first son, Gregory, in July 1955.

In July 1955, Kenneth received an early discharge from the Army so he could enroll at the University of Georgia to continue his Master’s degree, where he took classes as well as taught part-time. Son Philip was born in January 1957. After Kenneth completed his M.A. in 1957, he took a leave of absence from UGA to enroll in the Doctoral Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, using the GI Bill to cover his tuition, as well as a stipend as a Teaching Assistant. In 1959, the University of Georgia did not approve an extension on his leave of absence, so the Hammonds returned to Athens to resume Kenneth’s teaching duties in the English Department. Son Stephen was born in December 1960. Through professional connections, Kenneth learned of an opening at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and was hired in 1961 as an Assistant Professor. In his three years there, Kenneth helped develop and lead an annual Southern Literary Conference that brought prominent authors like Eudora Welty and Flannery O’Connor to campus. In 1964, he asked to be able to return to Wisconsin to complete his Ph.D., with an agreement to return to Converse, but it was denied. He quit his position, and his family moved back to Wisconsin. He accepted a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where he continued to work on his doctorate and dissertation on the work of Dante Rossetti. After seven years, a fellow Wisconsin student and Macon native, May McMillan, reached out to Kenneth about a teaching position at Mercer University. In 1971, he was hired as Associate Professor and English Department chair in the College of Liberal Arts, his teaching specialty in the British Victorians and Romantics. In January 1972, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 1982, his wife Joan died after a sudden and brief illness. In May 1984, Kenneth married Elizabeth Dankert, a librarian at Mercer. The following year, he led a summer study abroad program to Great Britain and returned to campus to direct the Mercer University Self Study for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a yearlong appointment. In 1990, daughter Jane was born. That same year, Kenneth was asked to serve as Dean Pro Tem of the College, a position he held for four years. During his tenure as Dean, University President Godsey asked Kenneth to chair a group of faculty and others, which came to be known as the Hammond Commission, to examine how Mercer operated as a university and how that could be improved. In 1994, Provost Horace Fleming asked Kenneth to serve as Assistant Provost, overseeing international programs and other student support programs. He served one year and then returned to the English Department. In Spring 1996, Kenneth served as one of the Exchange Professors in the ongoing program with Seinan Jo Gakuin College in Kitakyushu, Japan. Beth and Jane joined him for part of that time, and they were able to travel and enjoy Japan. Following his retirement in 1999, Kenneth continued to share his love of literature, particularly poetry. He taught several classes in the Wesleyan College Academy of Lifelong Learning (WALL) program, as well as poetry classes in the St. Francis Church Adult Education program. He also taught one semester at Stratford Academy in Macon.

Throughout his life, Kenneth was an avid gardener and art collector. He loved to travel, especially to England, and the American Southwest, especially Santa Fe for its culture, scenery and the Santa Fe Opera. He loved opera, attending live performances, listening to the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, and helping lead the Middle Georgia Opera Guild. In 2013, he received the Macon Arts Alliance Cultural Award for his work with the Opera Guild and his weekly emails, “This Week,” sharing information about upcoming cultural events, particularly film and music, in the Macon area.

Kenneth is pre-deceased by his parents, by his first wife and mother of his sons (Joan Adkins Hammond), and by two sisters, Dorothy and Barbara. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Dankert Hammond, his four children—Gregory Lewis Hammond (Mary Raffetto), Morada, CA; Philip Anthony Hammond, Evans, GA; Stephen Kenneth Hammond (Betsy), Portland, OR; and Elizabeth Jane Heeter (Jonathan), Pittsburgh, PA. He is also survived by a sister, Patricia Redding, Newnan, GA, and by numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and cousins. Friends and family are encouraged in lieu of flowers to contribute to the “Jo and Kenneth Hammond Endowed Scholarship” at Middle Georgia State University in Macon, supporting women returning to college.

The family wishes to thank the Atrium Navicent Home Health and the Pine Pointe Hospice care team, especially Andrea, Darleen, Kim, Leslie, Maria, Michelle, and Shawn for their loving, compassionate care of Kenneth during his illness, as well as the Visiting Angels aides who provided such wonderful care: Akinna, Deborah, Demetriss, Gwendolyn, Jeanine, and Sharonda.

Funeral services will be held September 20 at 11:00 am in Newton Chapel on the Mercer University campus in Macon. Family will greet friends an hour before the service. Burial will be private.

Please visit www.hartsmort.com to express condolences.

Hart’s on Cherry Street, Hart's Mortuary and Cremation Center, 765 Cherry Street, Macon, GA 31201 has charge of the arrangements.