Jean Lewis in Memoriam

(The following is the eulogy I wrote for my Aunt, Jean Lewis, who passed away on 8/30/13.)

My wife Lynda and I, first of all want to thank you all for being here today, for being Aunt Jean’s friends, neighbors and the center of her life during her years in Oregon.  One thing she never failed to tell us each and every time we visited her at Friendsview was how fortunate she felt to be there, and how much she loved her life in this community.

But that was, as we all know, one of the themes that she said ran through her entire life: how “lucky” she was.  At some point, though, luck isn’t the right to word to describe it.  At some point, the only word that fits is blessed.  It’s a word that I know she would happily use to describe her life.

There are myriad ways we could look at Aunt Jean’s remarkable life.  A woman who went from a farm in remote Clovis, New Mexico, to study nursing at Ottawa University, to getting a Master’s degree at American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, to an illustrious career as a nurse in San Francisco, to retirement in Oregon centered around helping seniors, is worthy of note.  She started that path in the 1940’s when women were primarily expected to stay at home, which makes her a trailblazer in many respects.

I want to focus on two aspects of her life that I think animated her journey: her faith, and her desire to help others.

“Desire” may not be exactly the right word, as I think helping others was truly something she felt that she had to do, something, perhaps, that she was called to do.  Of course, every person who chooses a career in nursing does so, at least in part, because they want to help people in need.  But for Aunt Jean it went beyond that.  She threw herself into nursing, earning awards from the Chancellor of the University of California.  When her health failed in the 1980’s, she left it for awhile, but came back to nursing, earning yet more accolades.

And what did she do in retirement when she moved to McMinnville?  She co-founded the Faith in Action program and founded a program serving seniors at the United Methodist Church there, programs that still help residents today.  And when she moved to Friendsview?  She became the Floor Representative for several years.  And when she left that job?  She found a way to continue to be helpful to her friends and neighbors, one or two at a time.  And all the way to the end, she gave money to all variety of charities and causes.

I do think that, on some level, her failing health the last six months were because she knew that her days of being a care-giver were over.  While we were all a bit surprised at how quickly she slipped away from us at the end once she had decided to go into hospice, in the light of her role as caregiver from the beginning, it makes perfect sense.  Judy Elliot, mother of Mae Hara, Aunt Jean’s neighbor and friend for the last few years, was with Aunt Jean at the end.  She told me that Jean had told her that when May passed away in the spring, Jean – quote - had finished her last project – unquote.  She felt that her work here was done.

And then there was her faith: inquisitive, deep, open and loving.  One of the stories she repeated often, particularly these last few years, was how she had developed her faith from an early age, “on the farm, out on the plow, talking with God.”  Never “talking to God,” it was always “talking with God.”

And they never stopped talking to each other.  She was a Baptist in Clovis and Wichita, a Presbyterian in San Francisco, and a Methodist in Oregon.  Her greatest passion in retirement was learning, particularly about world religions.  She knew more about Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism than any other Christian I’ve ever met, and all of them informed a bright, joyous sensibility about life.  I’m sure that when she got to heaven, she and St. Peter had a tremendous conversation that is probably still going on today.

For me, I cannot begin to express what this woman meant.  She taught me to read.  As I’m sure she told many of you, she was there when I took my first steps.  She taught me to love music in a way that I hadn’t before.  And most importantly, she taught me to love, unconditionally.  She showed that love to me; she showed it to my mother (her sister) and her parents; she showed it to Tae, her partner of over thirty years; she showed it to her friends in Newberg, McMinnville, San Francisco and before.  I was an adopted child and my adoptive parents split up when I was four – Aunt Jean’s presence in my life was the rock that kept my life anchored.

I found my birth mother in 2009, and our story is one of the good reuniting stories that has enriched us both immeasurably.  Last year, Aunt Jean told me how happy she was that my mother and I had found each other, and that when she left this world, she would be glad that she would not be leaving me alone.  Again, her work here was done.

Jean Lewis showed that loving spirit to thousands of patients, senior citizens and anonymous recipients of her largesse throughout her life.  Most of them probably never met her, never knew what she did for them.  But their lives were better for it.  All of our lives are better for it.  

We will all miss her.  I will miss her more than anyone who has left before her.  But I will forever be grateful for the love she gave me.

In fact, I think you could say that I feel… blessed.