Bob Lewis, a former employee of Kansas University’s university relations office, has died at age 84 from cancer of the esophagus, KU announced Monday.

He retired from university relations in 1998 after nine years as a video producer.

Lewis, whose license plate read “Yoyoman,” won a Duncan Co. yo-yo contest in 1937 and continued to do demonstrations and tutor children in the yo-yo. He also was vocally opposed to the Iraq war and worked as a volunteer for Kansas Public Radio, Audio-Reader and the Lied Center of Kansas, among other agencies.

In an article in the Journal-World earlier this year, Lewis wrote the following about his relationship with his wife, whom he met after sneaking off Lackland Air Force Base in Texas:

“Sixty-two years have passed, and we have been blessed with 10 children, 24 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with another on the way. Sometimes it pays to break the rules. Life has been good.”

He will be buried in Pioneer Cemetery.