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Eualogy

We are gathered here today, April 21, 2007 for the Memorial Service of Frank M. Lewis. We give thanks to God for his life. As we have talked to his family and friends and heard stories, we are going to share some of those. There seems to be a great diversity of ways that people knew him, whether through his church, his work, his family, or his friends. Just as we were standing out in the foyer here at Ford and Sons, Mr. Ford told me that he used to work as a car hop at Wimpy’s. The memories begin tostir. The appreciation for this man grows as we think about the different ways we got to know him. You take that one step further and think this is how this person affected me. Every time someone mentions that name Frank Lewis, there is a host of warm, kind memories that come along with that. I have yet to find anyone who was harmed by him. Everyone seems to have benefited by knowing him. I think that is a mark of a person who gives, and gives, and we are better for it.

As we gather here today, some Scriptures to pull us together. I like this out of Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Usually we read this in a negative context when something bad has happened. We are trying to reach in to the dark abyss and pull something worthy out of it, but how about if you turn that around. You know we are grateful and thankful for the life of Frank Lewis because God has used his life for our good. Good things come out of good; it doesn’t always have to be bad. Paul continues on, “Who shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Shall tribulation, distress, or persecution, famine, peril or sword? In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present not the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all cr

Let’s begin our prayer. Lord, as we come here today, we have suffered a physical, material loss in the life of Frank Lewis. As we pause in the midst of our grief and even at the age of 90, we may say he lived a good life, there is still a loss. And losses must be grieved, and even in gratitude for his life, console us in our grief. Help us too during this time to give you thanks for his life, and how your grace and mercy worked in his life. We give thanks for how his life worked through us. We are here today because he was a very special person, special to all of us in various ways. For that too we are grateful. So as we come together today to find closure on his life, both family and friends, we also return that life to you and give thanks for it. For the 90 years he was here on earth we recognize the good. For that we are deeply, deeply grateful. As the service continues, and as it concludes, and as we go back to our respective lives, to our work, to our retirement, to all these different

The official record which was submitted to the Southeast Missourian which reporters consider as a news report on a person’s death so they take a lot of factual information, reports that on Thursday, April 19, 2007 Frank Miller Lewis passed away at the Missouri Veterans Home. It records that he was born in Des Arc, Missouri of Iron County on March 11, 1917 to Fred and Ethel Miller Lewis. Again it’s kind of like Joe Friday, “Just give me the facts.” He graduated from high school in Annapolis, MO in 1935.In 1942 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Great Lakes Training Center. From there the Navy sent him to Washington D.C. where he met his bride to be Irene Wesa. We’ll also get into a story about how he proposed with a 70 word telegram. I got to thinking what would it be like if I had had to propose to my wife and limit it to 70 words? They were married February 1, 1944 in Ventura, California. December 24, 1944 Frank departed California to serve on the island of Tinian in Micronesia. After

He also found time to coach Little League and Church Basketball teams. Cliff Ford also shared how Frank would bring bubble gum and comic books for the bench warmers so they wouldn’t feel so bad when they didn’t get to play. Later in the game the better players, looked at the candy and comic books, and said, “Mr. Lewis, you can let them play so we can take our turn sitting on the bench?” His hobbies included square dancing, fishing, and gardening. And too as we begin to talk about his life, he was loved by young people. He was very involved and very caring in that respect.

Survivors include his wife Irene Wesa Lewis, two daughters, Lynette Williamson of St. Louis, Mo, and Kathleen Fishel of Gainesville, Florida, one son, Duane Lewis of Southaven, Mississippi, four grandchildren: Bryant Williamson of St. Louis, Mo, Alayna Nordstrom of West Kilbride, Scotland, Jenny Lane and Derrick Wesa Lewis of Southaven, Mississippi. Four great-grandsons are Brett Lane, Andrew and Cooper Lewis of Southaven, Mississippi, and Eric Nordstrom of West Kilbride, Scotland.

He is also survived by his sister Frieda Lewis Howard, and his brother, Freeman Lewis of Cape Girardeau. He was preceded in death by his brothers Francis Lewis, and Bill Lewis and his sister Leta Lewis Bahn. Of course Leta just passed away last month.

Nephew Ben Lewis brings a little different perspective on this. Of course some of this is a duplication of the above. He notes that Frank was born on March 11, 1917 near Des Arc. He was the oldest of 6. As a very caring individual, maybe it’s because he had to care for the other 5 siblings that this developed his caring attitude. Frank and Irene had 3 children: Lynette Lewis Williamson and her husband Bob Williamson reside on their motor vessel “Legrace” where ever it may be. Kathy Lewis Fishel and her husband Fred Fishel live in Gainesville, Florida. Duane Wesa Lewis and his wife Debbie live in Southaven, Mississippi.

The place where Frank was born is still rather remote. Frank’s Father Fred farmed with his brother Jerome along Big Creek in south Iron County Missouri. All that remains of the original home is the concrete stairs. Life was hard, but the family was very close. As we talk about family during the Depression, and I had two parents who grew up during the Depression, there is something of value in hard work. Of course I try to tell my kids that fact today; no they won’t believe it. Parents of Frank and Irene’s generation and my parent’s generation, knew there was something galvanizing about family when it came to hard work. Particularly everyone is farming in those days or had a large garden as that was the only way they could get food. This is one ofthe aspects that made Frank such a special person. Life was hard; but the family was very close. In time Fred and Ethel would move to their own farm, and would have Frank, Francis, Frieda, Freeman, Leta, and Bill. They would eke out a living

They milked 15 to 20 cows twice a day. They kept the milk in the spring house in a gallon crock or bucket which is placed in 6 inches of running spring water. After separation the cream was sent to St. Louis by train and sold. They sold cream once or twice a week and that is how the Lewis family got cash. Fred, Frank’s father, and Fred’s brother, Jerome, shared a bull. Frank said, they had a good life farming in the 1920’s. Each year his mother would can up to 80 to 90 quarts of peaches, blackberries, apples, and green beans from the orchard and garden. They also grew potatoes, wheat, and corn. They took the wheat and corn to the mill to be ground into flour. The mill kept a portion as payment. Frank graduated from South Iron High School in 1935 during the Depression. He sold a 2 year old white-faced calf he had raised for about $15.00 and bought a new suit to wear to graduation. They had a Baccalaureate service and a banquet at the Presbyterian Church in Annapolis and graduation servi

The family moved to Cape Girardeau shortly before World War II. They acquired a large house across the street from the present Southeast Missouri University Student Center on Henderson. They set up a boarding house. This was also home to the Lewis clanwhenever relatives were in town on a given day. Before joining the service, Frank’s brother Freeman started a hamburger stand on North Kingshighway and named it Wimpy’s. Fred and Ethel would operate this business while their sons were away at war. When Freeman and Frank returned from Guam and Tinian, Wimpy’s began a thirty year run as the premier hamburger joint, local teen hangout, and convenience store. Cape Girardeau had very few of these enterprises. Everyone who lived and visited Cape Girardeau in the 1950’s and 1960’s knew Wimpy’s. When Frank entered the Veterans Home in 2006, he was hailed as “Mr. Wimpy.” He considered that an honor and I would too. I always knew Frank as a hard working, smiling, modest Uncle. Irene appea

The Lewis men were always known for their dry wit. Frank told me about a time when he was in the basement with his Father Fred looking for a bowling ball and chain, part of the family’s pre-wedding ritual. He apparently got worked up in hi search when his Dad said, “Well have you checked your pockets?” Frank did check all his pockets until he heard his Dad laughing. Frank loved hard work. As I read these remembrances, is there anyone who would begin to question that comment? Frank enjoyed cutting wood for firewood. For many years he heated his home with firewood. My favorite experience with Frank was working in Leta’s woods one winter day. Ben says, “It was 10 degrees and the ground was covered with snow. Frank was telling me about the old man across the road who could split wood as fast as Leta’s husband could cut it with a chain saw. That old man was 70 years old. Frank, how old are you?” “I am 75 years old.”

Lynette also shared how he traveled to Hawaii with Youth With A Mission and to England for Wycliffe Bible Translators. At age 82 he traveled to Prague, Czech Republic. If you try to pull this whole thing together, you say, “What an amazingly blessed life!” Not only are we the recipients of his amazingly blessed life, but it genders in me a tremendous sense of gratitude that God had blessed him such for his commitment to family, church, and community. Lynette says he was a very positive and optimistic person with a special love for people, especially young people. That’s a legacy that lives on. It engenders a great sense of gratitude. When I think of some of the Scriptures. I like what Paul wrote to the apostle Timothy in II Timothy 1: 3-7 “I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience as my forefathers did without ceasing. I remember you in my prayers night and day greatly desiring to see you, mindful of your tears that I might be filled with joy. When I call to remembrance the gen

I count it a privilege to fill in along with my wife as Pastor at Westminster. While preaching there, we know some of the history, but we don’t know all the players. Today as we gather today to give thanks for the life of Frank Lewis, it gives me a deeper appreciation when I sit in that pastor’s office to think of all those as Paul says the saints who came before us, filled with the sense of power that God has given to us, the hope of his calling, then I think too, “Who will be the generations to come and look back and give thank to us for what we have done?” I think Frank has given us a wonderful picture of what it means to give in his commitment to community, his church, and his family.



Find A Grave Memorial# 115288822

Irene Lewis
Sunday, March 21, 2010
seMissourian.com
Irene Wesa Lewis, 88, died Friday, March 19, 2010, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau.
Mrs. Lewis was born Oct. 4, 1921, in Menahga, Minn., the daughter of William and Hilma Hilton Wesa. She grew up in the Finnish community of Hibbing, Minn., and attended the Finnish Lutheran Church.
She graduated from Hibbing High School in 1939. After graduation from Hibbing Junior College, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work in the Pentagon for three years as a secretary in the War Department. While there she met her future husband, Coxswain Frank M. Lewis, whom she married Feb. 1, 1944, in Ventura, Calif. After the war ended, the couple lived in Conneaut, Ohio.
In 1948, Irene and Frank Lewis with their daughter, Lynette, came to Cape Girardeau to join the family business of Wimpy's Inc. at 800 N. Kingshighway. Only one year later their newly-built house at 902 N. West End Blvd. was destroyed by the May 1949 tornado.
Mrs. Lewis was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church. She was an active square dancer, swimmer and duplicate bridge player.
Irene is survived by two daughters, Lynette Williamson of St. Louis, Kathleen Fishel of Gainesville, Fla.; a son, Duane Lewis of Southaven, Miss.; a sister, Frances Arndt of Hibbing; four grandchildren, Bryant Williamson of St. Louis, Alayna Nordstrom of West Kilbride, Scotland, Jenny Lane and Derrick Wesa Lewis, both of Southaven; four great-grandsons, Andrew and Cooper Lewis of Southaven, Eric Nordstrom of West Kilbride, Scotland, Charles Taylor Lane of Southaven.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.
Friends may call from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the church, with the Rev. Karen Dumey officiating. Burial will be in Cape Girardeau County Memorial Park.
Memorials to Westminister Presbyterian Church, Cape Girardeau, are preferred. Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com

Name: Helen Irene Weso
Birth Date: 4 Oct 1921
Birth Place: Becker, Minnesota, USA
Father's Surname: Weso
Mother's Maiden Name: Hilton
Certificate Number: 1921-01228

Helen married Frank Miller Lewis on 01 Feb 1944 in Ventura, Ventura County, California, United States. Frank (son of Fred Lewis and Ethel Mayme Miller) was born on 11 Mar 1917 in Des Arc, Iron County, Missouri, USA; died on 19 Apr 2007 in Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, USA; was buried on 21 Apr 2007 in Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]