Lewis Roane Hunt is an impassioned genealogist. He says he has three surnames, all from family connections.

Having lived both on the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula, he has learned not only about the Roane and Hunt families through his mother and father, but has delved into other family lines as well as his Christian heritage since his retirement from NASA Langley in 1994.

Roane Hunt was born Feb. 20, 1939 in Toano in James City County. Today, he and his wife Phyllis live in the home they built in Gloucester. They have four daughters, three of whom live in Mathews. They also have 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. He speaks fondly of his wife editing his work as he writes.

Roane graduated from York High School, then VPI (now Virginia Tech) with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He worked at NACA (now NASA) for 37 years as a wind tunnel test engineer. He calls himself a “numbers cruncher.”

He has continued his affinity for numbers through a huge databa...