History

Significant Moments Throughout Lewis’ Life

Lewis Fredrick Urry was born on January 29, 1927 in the city of Pontypool, Ontario located in Canada. Lewis’ father was named Oman Urry and his mother was Ada Rowan Urry. Lewis had a family of seven including himself, two sisters and two brothers. He is worldly known for his contribution in inventing the first long-lasting alkaline battery which is used across the entire globe. This invention is used in many electronic devices as a compact power source including cameras, toys, flashlights and phones. Throughout Lewis’ later adolescent life, he served as a captain in the Royal Canadian Army from 1946-1949. After leaving the army, in 1950 he graduated from the University of Toronto and received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and he went on to work for the Canadian National Carbon Company manufacturing Eveready batteries. 

Pontypool, Ontario

This company specialized in the production of early batteries before Urry’s invention and aided him in his discovery. Five years after starting with the company, he was sent to work at the Eveready research lab where he was in charge of developing new batteries with a longer lifetime. This laboratory was located in Parma, Ohio in the United States where he carried out his research. During his early working experience, he came in contact with 51 battery and power cell revolving patents including some for a lithium battery, a new discovery for this time period. In 1960, Lewis married Beverly Ann Carlock and became a U.S citizen, moving to Eaton Township after living in a Columbia Township for the majority of his life. In his later life, Lewis became a vegetable gardener and carried out the rest of his life with his family. Lewis retired in May, 2004 at the age of 77 and died on October 19, 2004. His invention of the alkaline battery helped change the world and it will continue to be used in the lives of countless individuals across the world.