RAYMOND – Administrators and faculty at a prominent Philadelphia private school are mourning the loss of Lewis S. Somers III and his wife, Elizabeth, who died earlier this week in their Raymond home of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Lewis Somers had been an overseer of the William Penn Charter School since 1973, and the Somerses gave generously of their time and money to the institution, according to Darryl J. Ford, the head of school.

“Lewis and Betty Somers were dedicated supporters of the William Penn Charter School. As head of school, I valued Lew’s work as an overseer, and his incredible mind as it related to issues of finance and development,” Ford said Wednesday night, as stunned faculty and students completed the first day of the school year. “Even more meaningful was Lew’s friendship, his support of me and the relationships he had with administrators and faculty.”

Lewis Somers, 85, and Elizabeth, 84, died sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning after leaks in the generator exhaust system malfunctioned, sending carbon monoxide into the living space of their home at 76 Musson Road, off Cape Road.

After receiving a call from a neighbor, who was checking in on the couple since the power had been out, sheriff’s deputies and personnel from the Raymond Fire-Rescue Department responded to the home at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and found both had died. Readings on a CO meter showed extremely high levels.

According to Capt. Jeff Davis, the generator was installed in the 1980s and vented to the outside by an elaborate series of pipes that led from the generator, located in the basement, through a basement wall and into a buried 55-gallon drum, which acted as a sound muffler. The exhaust then vented to the surface through another pipe.

An investigator determined there were clogs that had formed in rusted sections of the underground system. There was also a leak in the generator itself that combined to cause the high carbon monoxide levels in the home.

Davis said the couple didn’t have a carbon monoxide detector in the home, which could have notified them of the unhealthy levels.

“It’s an unfortunate lesson that a simple alarm with a battery backup could have prevented. The generator was old and deteriorated and a detector would have been money well spent. This is a real loss,” Davis said.

Davis said the neighbor found the husband lying on the floor in the living room and brought him to the porch before calling for rescue. First responders found the wife sitting in a chair in a bedroom.

The loss has shaken the community at the William Penn Charter School, a Quaker college preparatory school founded in 1689.

Lewis Somers graduated from the school in 1944. He joined the board of overseers in 1973, served as clerk of the overseers from 1989-1995, and became a senior overseer in 2008.

The couple’s sons, Scott and John, both graduated from the school. Their daughter, Elizabeth Stutzman, went to a nearby school, as at the time the charter school was an all-boy institution.

“Lew and Betty never missed a Penn Charter event,” Ford said.

Lewis Somers chaired the school’s latest capital campaign, raising $47 million. In addition, he had given the school $3 million of his own money.

“He was incredibly generous of his own time and talent and resources,” Ford said.

In running the campaign, Somers drew from his professional experience, which included founding two companies, BioChem Technology, which specialized in wastewater treatment processes, and Harmac Medical Products, a medical supply company now run by his son John.

In addition to her work at the school, Elizabeth Somers was also active with the Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, particularly its craft show, Ford said.

“We’ve lost wonderful friends,” Ford said.

Lewis S. Somers III and his wife Elizabeth were remembered this
week as generous benefactors of the William Penn Charter School, a
Quaker college preparatory school in Philadelphia. The couple died
in their Raymond summer home, likely the result of carbon monoxide
poisoning. (Courtesy photo)
The Somers’ home at 76 Musson Road in Raymond