Betty May Lewis Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Betty May Crowder Lewis, age 98, resident of Marion, IL since 2010, former 30-year resident of the Orlando, Titusville and Kissimmee, Florida area, and former longtime resident of the Washington, D.C. area, passed away peacefully, with her daughters near, at 4:48 a.m. on Friday, June 26, 2020, in Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, IL. She was born on May 26, 1922, in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Wesley Anderson and Ruth Madeline (Gibbons) Crowder. Betty grew up in Washington, D.C., and was a graduate of Theodore Roosevelt High School Class of 1940. She was united in marriage to Herbert Madison Lewis on January 16, 1943, at Petworth Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. Together they shared 41 years of marriage until his death on October 24, 1984. Betty’s executive secretarial career was one of great diversity in the Washington, D.C. area. She worked for the president of the largest real estate company in Northern Virginia, and with a large law firm in Alexandria, VA. She spent many years working in the White House and served under United States Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan. She also worked in various other parts of the government, for a General with the Department of the Army, and with the National Science Foundation. Betty was the Charter President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of Professional Secretaries, was active in several civic organizations and instrumental in establishing “The Santa Claus Shop” for underprivileged children in Alexandria, VA, and was named in three different “Virginia Community Leaders” publications. She was a charter member of Fairlington United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and later was a member of the United Methodist Church of Kissimmee, FL. In her spare time Betty traveled extensively throughout the world, researched her family genealogy back six generations, and wrote an extensive autobiography about her life. She loved her family, especially her granddaughters and great-grandsons, and was always interested in their various activities. The many memories that have been created will now be cherished by those she leaves behind. She is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Barbara and Kenneth Dawes of Goreville, IL, and Susan and Brian Dietz of Rockville, MD; four granddaughters, Kathleen Baker and her husband, Ryan, of Herrin, IL, Allison Dietz of Philadelphia, PA, Michelle Dietz of Washington, D.C., and Stephanie Dietz of Rockville, MD; two great-grandsons, Jack Parrish and Henry Baker, both of Herrin, IL; other extended family and many friends throughout the country. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother Wesley A. Crowder, Jr., and two sons, Herbert M. (“Rusty”) Lewis, Jr. and Richard C. Lewis. Arrangements in Marion, IL, have been entrusted to Wilson-McReynolds Funeral Home. To leave an online condolence or memory, please visit our website at wilsonmcreynolds.com. A longtime Washingtonian, Betty will be taken back to her hometown, and arrangements will be entrusted to Fort Lincoln Funeral Home and Cemetery, Brentwood, Maryland. A graveside service is scheduled for July 9, with interment to follow next to her husband and other loved ones in Fort Lincoln Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society. For additional information, call the funeral home at 618-993-2131.

Betty May Lewis

May 26, 1922 - June 26, 2020