EMERALD ISLE  -  Homer Hart Hewitt, III, 97, of Emerald Isle, died peacefully in his sleep on January 15, 2024, just one week shy of his 98th birthday.  A family Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

Born and raised in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, Mr Hewitt attended Lower Merion High School and Princeton University (class of 1947). While an undergraduate, he entered the Princeton Navy Program and completed his stint as a Naval Officer in 1946. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1951.

Throughout his life and well into his 80s, Homer was an enthusiastic sportsman, a fierce competitor in field hockey-serving on two US National Field Hockey teams- and in basketball where he was generally 20 years older than anyone on the court. He was known as a fearless body surfer, and the mascot and leader of the biannual Lands End Cocoon Swim. Homer also played tennis and squash tournaments at the Merion Cricket Club.

He practiced law as a partner in a Philadelphia law firm and later as a sole practitioner. In 1972, Homer founded Video Learning and became one of the most successful distributors of educational, management development, and health care videotapes in the country. In 1977, he founded Video Library and became a pioneer in the field of home video distribution.

His love of jazz came at an early age and he was lucky enough to see many jazz greats over the years. Equally important to him was a love of wildlife and of animals in general. He routinely fed pond turtles and jack rabbits. For many years he believed his pet raccoon could be domesticated. (He was wrong.)

In the late 1990s, Homer and his beloved wife Gwen made a permanent move from Haverford, PA to their beach house in Emerald Isle, NC. With ample room for all their children and grandchildren, this was a true family haven—that enabled Homer a to do all the outdoor things he loved year-around.

Survivors include his wife, Gwen of the home; daughters, Lorie Hewitt (Dave Bradley) of Olympia, WA, Gayle Hewitt of SC, and Perry Hewitt of Chapel Hill; stepchildren, Suzanne Carroll of Madison, CT, Barbara Rosica of New York, NY, Robert Lail of Bryn Marr, PA, Molly Lail of Philadelphia, PA, and Anita Trafford of Ambler, PA; and twelve grandchildren and four great grandchildren.