Lynchburg City Council approved a resolution Tuesday night that will name the new Lakeside Drive bridge over Blackwater Creek after Elliot and Rosel Schewel, two luminaries in the city’s history.
Council approved the measure 6-0, with Ward III Councilman Jeff Helgeson absent.
“Their contributions were in the past,” At-large Councilwoman Treney Tweedy said, “but we can see their contributions still in the present. And their legacy of contribution and support for this community and everyone in it will be seen going forward in the future, and that’s a living testament more than anyone can say in words.”
Known for their philanthropy, community activism and advocacy for Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, the Schewels’ memory will live on just beside the university for which they did so much.
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“For more than 40 years, Rosel and Elliot served as tireless advocates of Lynchburg College. Their philanthropy extended to support the $12.5 million, 68,000-square-foot technology-based building that now bears their name,” university President Alison Morrison-Shetlar wrote in a letter to Lynchburg City Council.
“Speaking on behalf of the University of Lynchburg community, we would be thrilled to arrive at the University each day after crossing the Elliot and Rosel Schewel bridge,” Morrison-Shetlar wrote in the conclusion of her letter.
Elliot Schewel, who died in 2019, was a dedicated public servant, having served as a state senator for 21 years. He also served a stint as a city councilman beginning in 1965.
In addition to his time in politics, Schewel worked in many capacities to champion public education and public housing in the city, and he helped found the Lynchburg Public Library.
“This sets an example of what a philanthropist outside of government can do in a community to make an impact,” Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi said about the entire Schewel family. “Feeding people, equipping nonprofits to do their role. I think it goes without question the impact that was made by this family.”
Rosel Schewel, who died in 2017, was a teacher, philanthropist and champion of many causes, specifically women’s rights, one thing Mayor MaryJane Dolan still sees the effects of in Lynchburg’s community today.
“I was in a leadership conference at the University of Lynchburg over the weekend with about a hundred women in the room and I guarantee you just about every woman in that room had a story about how Rosel affected their lives,” Dolan said. “It’s really a privilege to vote in favor of this.”
Vice Mayor Beau Wright said he reached out to the Schewel family upon the introduction of this resolution last month, and the family responded “very enthusiastically, because they know, as we do, what a significant contribution they made to Lynchburg.”
At-large Councilman Randy Nelson worked with both Schewels separately, with Elliot on boards and community initiatives, and with Rosel when she was a court-appointed special advocate in the juvenile and domestic relations court during Nelson’s time as an attorney.
“Their accolades and their accomplishments go far beyond anything that I personally witnessed, and I think it would be very appropriate to honor them in this manner,” Nelson said.
Ward II Councilman Sterling Wilder said he isn’t aware of another couple who gave more of themselves to the community in Lynchburg.
“I looked up one day and they were supporting like every nonprofit in the city,” Wilder said. “When you leave this life, what kind of legacy are you leaving? And I think it’s so important that they left a legacy that continues on in their name.”