Sewickley woman 'loved life,' church

Tomasita A. Lewis was devoted to her family and her church, from her younger years in her native Puerto Rico to her later years in Sewickley.

"She was a little lady, very proper and dressed elegantly, even at 95," said the Rev. Laura Theis, of Edgeworth, a friend of Mrs. Lewis. "She loved life, loved her daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

Tomasita A. Lewis, of Sewickley, died Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, at Good Samaritan Hospice House in Marshall of complications from a stroke. She was 96.

Mrs. Lewis was born Feb. 22, 1910, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, her daughter, Ivonne Lewis Miller said. Mrs. Lewis had 10 brothers and sisters,

Miller said her mother and her biological father, the late Abigail Lopez, met when her mother was playing the part of Mary in a nativity scene in Puerto Rico.

"He (Lopez) was smitten," Miller said. "He said, 'This is the lady I'm going to marry.' "

Tragedy struck for Mrs. Lewis when her husband, in his early 20s, developed pneumonia and died. Miller was born three months after his death.

Mrs. Lewis and her daughter moved in with one of Mrs. Lewis' sisters, Miller said. Mrs. Lewis took a job as a secretary.

The man who would become Mrs. Lewis' second husband, John D. Lewis, who was from Baltimore, was a civilian working with the Navy to build Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, a former U.S. military naval base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico.

"My father saw my mother, and he was smitten," Miller said.

The two married, and in 1941 the family left Puerto Rico and traveled among a convoy of ships to New York.

"There were Japanese submarines in the area," Miller said. "The battleships protected us."

Within a week, the family moved from New York to Sewickley to stay with a brother of Mr. Lewis'.

Miller said her mother spoke fluent English, easing the transition to life in the United States.

In addition to caring for her family, Mrs. Lewis enjoyed spending time with family and friends and was an avid church member. Mrs. Lewis converted from Catholicism to the Episcopalian religion when she married her second husband. The family joined St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Sewickley.

Mrs. Miller said her mother was an avid reader and in her later years traveled with friends to her native Puerto Rico as well as to Israel, Italy and Spain.

"The church was her main thing," Miller said.

Mrs. Lewis also enjoyed taking walks throughout the Sewickley business district until a series of strokes in the past several years slowed her down, her family said.

Mrs. Lewis was preceded in death by her husbands, Abigail Lopez and John D. Lewis.

Survivors include her daughter, Ivonne Lewis Miller; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

There will be no visitation. A service of resurrection will be at noon Friday at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 405 Frederick Ave., Sewickley.

Copeland Funeral Home in Sewickley is in charge of arrangements.