Raymond Lewis

Beloved husband, father and grandfather Raymond Lewis went to join his loved ones in Heaven after passing away peacefully at home the night of December 29, 2021. The ones who love him here will miss him dearly.

Ray was the fifth of ten children, born of John Terry Lewis and Martha Schaeffer Lewis on August 10, 1931. He was born in Webster County, MS. Of his ten siblings, all but two have gone before him. They were a tightly knit bunch who lived on a farm as share croppers. They worked very hard, some days being pulled from school to work in the fields picking cotton. Raymond attended Clark Junior College in Newton, MS followed by Mississippi State in Starkville, MS. From there, He attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, graduating from the first class of the college in 1957. Next, he completed his internship at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans, LA, and finally completed his residency in Dermatology at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. Before beginning his residency, he fell in love in the operating room with a beautiful nurse whom he also proposed to in the same operating room. They were married January 21, 1956, and were married just short of 66 years. Helen was the love of his life and “the best thing that ever happened to him.” She loved and supported him through his last year of school, and then they set up a dermatology/allergy practice in Meridian, MS in 1969. While there, they started a family of two sons and two daughters, and then moved to Odessa, TX where they worked until retiring in November of 1993. Afterwards, they moved to La Grange, TX.

Ray enjoyed many hobbies including silversmithing, faceting gems, diesel mechanics, stained glass, camping with his family, and growing everything (even a tangerine tree—from a seed!) He very much enjoyed family gatherings, which were large, joy-filled reunions with his beloved siblings and their families.

Ray was a loyal member of his church for many years. He was a deacon and sang tenor in a barber shop quartet as well as the church choir.

He and Helen lived a quiet life and found contentment in each other and their precious children, grand-children, and great-grand-children.

Raymond Lewis is preceded in death by his parents, John Terry Lewis and Martha Schaeffer Lewis; siblings, Guy LaVern Lewis, Sarah Holland, Thurman Lewis, Vera Mae Lewis, Florence Boyd, and James Lewis. He is survived by his caring wife Helen Lewis; his sons, Lyn and Daniel Lewis; his daughters, Debbie King and Kimberly Kuhlmann and her husband Clint Kuhlmann; his brother Claitie Lewis; his sister Martha Lou Knudsen; his grandchildren, April McLauren, Rachel Davis, Sarah Kuhlmann, Mark Lewis, and Caitlin Lewis; his great-grand-children Aiden Wright, Finley McLauren, and Maisie McLauren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Hospice Brazos Valley.