Lois Eskridge Lewis

Lois Eskridge Lewis, born February 16, 1926, died January 12, 2016. Predeceased by her husband, Frank Gordon Lewis, mother, Lillie Prisock Allgood, and parents, Elizabeth and Meredith Bonnie Eskridge. Survived by her son, Thomas (Tom) Meredith Lewis (Tammy), Heidelberg, Mississippi, and daughter, Jan Lewis Brandes, Nashville, Tennessee, and granddaughter, Cara Lewis Cahak (Ryan), Knoxville, Tennessee, grandsons, George Lewis Brandes, Washington, DC, Samuel Brooks (Blair) Lewis, Jackson, Mississippi, and Avery Walker Brandes, Nashville, Tennessee, great-granddaughters, Alee, Annah Cate, and Charli; sisters, Betty Hatcher (Jimmy), of Memphis, Tennessee, Dianne Barfield, and Roy F. Cotton (Juanita) of Jackson, Mississippi; aunts, Pauline Rhodes, Louisville, Mary Marler, Brooksville, Mississippi, and a host of nieces and nephews. She was born in Brooksville, Mississippi, and graduated in 1947 from then Mississippi State College for Women, in Columbus, Mississippi with a degree in secretarial science. She held her first teaching position in Heidelberg, Mississippi where she moved at the request of her admired principal. There she married Gordon Lewis, a fellow teacher. She taught at the Heidelberg High School for more than two decades, serving as the sponsor for many student organizations, and mentoring generations of students. Blessed with a lovely alto voice, she sang on a radio program in her teens, later at the W, and in her church choir. She left her Baptist heritage to join the Heidelberg United Methodist Church, but her faith was unrelated to denomination. She was a stalwart presence in her church and community, until leaving in 2013, when her health faltered. She had many friendships, nurtured from childhood, college, and her nearly 70 years in Heidelberg. She was the ultimate arbiter of grammar, language, and appropriateness, and exacting in every way. Every church bulletin and garden club yearbook she produced reflected her love of detail and perfection. She was an energetic First Lady of Heidelberg, always ready to help, as a great helpmeet to her mayor husband. Often with book in hand, she continued with reading clubs and Bible study, after years of teaching Sunday school. In her later years, she was the recipient of beloved visits with her former students and colleagues. Many said that her typing class was never so appreciated as when computers were introduced! Her grandchildren were her joy and trips with them were planned by her, often with an au pair in tow. She maintained a wide correspondence with friends and family, and was the last matriarch in the Lewis family, whom she loved and who she always maintained was part of what drew her to her husband of 65 years. Her family is grateful to Celeste Morgan for long years of service and in recent years to Walter Wilson and staff at Park Manor, Nashville. Funeral services will be held at the Heidelberg United Methodist Church, Heidelberg, Mississippi at 2pm, on Saturday, January 16, 2016 with visitation from 12 noon to 2pm. In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorials be given to the Mississippi University for Women Foundation, Lois Eskridge Lewis Scholarship Fund, 1100 College Street, Columbus, MS, 39701, or to the Heidelberg United Methodist Church, 210 North Magnolia Avenue, Heidelberg, Mississippi, 39439. To sign the online guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Lois Eskridge Lewis

February 16, 1926 - January 12, 2016