LEWISBURG -- A former resident of Union County was found shot last week along with his fiancée at a marina in the Fort Myers area of Florida. Authorities believe the woman's ex-husband committed the crime...a crime that has shocked many in the Lewisburg area.
Friends say Harry Carlip lived in Lewisburg for many years, and still has family there. His friends say he moved to Florida a few years ago, but they still kept in touch. Carlip was a former president of the Lewisburg Area School Board. The murders leave Carlip's friends in Union County heartbroken.
Friends of former Lewisburg resident Harry Carlip say they remember him as a selfless man who would do anything for anyone. Bob Hamm knew Carlip for about 30 years but says Carlip moved down south in recent years. The two stayed in touch.
"He would come up here and we would go down there to see him. We were down in South Carolina to see him. He always enjoyed coming up here to see his friends up here and we would do things together," Hamm said.
According to investigators in Fort Myers, Florida, 70-year-old Harry Carlip and his fiancée, Marilyn Spiegel were shot and killed last Thursday. This happened just two days before their wedding. Spiegel's ex-husband is charged with the homicides. Carlip leaves behind many friends and family in Lewisburg.
"He's going to be greatly missed," Mary Brouse said.
Mary Brouse served on the Lewisburg Area School Board while Carlip was president of the board in the 1990s. Brouse still serves on the board today, and says it was Carlip who convinced her to run.
"Harry was very knowledgeable on the board. He was dynamic. A great leader and a mentor for me," Brouse said.
Harry's friends say he was an animal lover and he also loved swimming, boating and running. He even co-owned a running newspaper with his ex-wife Freddi here in Lewisburg.
Hamm says he planned to surprise Carlip last weekend at his wedding.
"He was going to live his dream on the boat. Now he found Marilyn who really liked boats. It really seemed like a good fit," Hamm said.
"About two years ago, he and Marilyn came up and Norm and I (Norm is my husband) we went out and had a meal with them. She seemed like a very nice lady and I thought finally this may be the one for Harry and he seemed very happy," Brouse said.
Friends say even though Harry Carlip lived in Florida he still considered Lewisburg a big part of his life. Contributions in his name can be made to the Green Dragon Foundation in Lewisburg, which is the Lewisburg Area School District's education foundation. The man accused in the homicides, Michael Spiegel, is locked up in Florida on charges of criminal homicide and arson.