Calvin Coolidge Lewis' Obituary
LEWIS, CALVIN COOLIDGE Age 85, Died Sept. 9, 2010 in Mesquite, Texas. He was born March 8, 1925 to George and America Lewis in Wilburton, Oklahoma. His family moved to Austin, Texas, when he was 8 years old. He attended school at St. Elmo, Fulmore and Stephen F. Austin High School. He explored the back roads of Austin on his bicycle with his friends, Carl McClendon and Jack Shelby. He traveled with his Dad selling fruit and vegetables from the back of their truck. He worked as a delivery truck driver for Martin Linen Supply. He was drafted into military service in 1943 and joined the U.S. Air Force Training at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. He served six months as an Aerial Gunner, four months as a S.Sgt Armorer Gunner and 11 months as S.Sgt Radar Operator. He served in the Eighth Air Force on B-17s in England at Chelveston, England, during World War II, from November, 1944 to August 1945. He completed nine missions in the Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. His final assignment was as a Spot Jammer for the 366th Bomb Squad and the 305th Bomb group. He was wounded in a plane crash on February. 15, 1945. He was Decorated and Cited for the following medals–PURPLE HEART, AIR MEDAL, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, VICTORY MEDAL, EAME ribbon with three bronze battle stars, and the AMERICAN THEATRE MEDAL. After his recovery, he returned back to the US on August 1, 1945, and arrived back in Austin on August 11. He was Honorably Discharged on December 12, 1945. On August 26, 1945, he married Annette Marie Reichenau at the Holy Ghost Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg, Texas. They celebrated 65 years of marriage on August 26, 2010. In Austin, he worked as a carpenter’s helper a short while. Then he worked as computer analyst at Teacher Retirement, Bergstrom Air Force Base, Ft. Hood and U.S. Army, Fort Sam, in San Antonio, Texas retiring in 1993. He and his wife lived and raised their three sons in South Austin. He was confirmed in the Lutheran Church and served in many areas. He is survived by his wife and sons: Kenneth and his wife, Sally, from Mesquite, Texas; Ernest Lewis and Barry Vornbrock from California; Michael and his wife, Linda, from Pacific, Missouri; six grandchildren: Ernest Kjell Lewis and his wife, Lindsay, from Pearland, Texas; Steven and his wife Athanasia from Knoxville, Tennessee; Laura Mervicker and her husband, Andrew, from Garland, Texas; William and Christianna Lewis from Pacific, Missouri; Veronica Dowty and husband, John from Wichita, Kansas; 4 great grandchildren: Allyson Rose Lewis from Knoxville, Tennessee; Isabelle and Peter Mervicker from Garland, Texas; and Noah Lewis from Pearland, Texas. He is also survived by his sister, Barbara Livingston from Marble Falls, Texas, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, brothers Albert and William Lewis, sisters; Mary Burnett, Eva McIver, Mable Sandefur, Gemima Smith, Velma Stevenson and Ethel Lewis. Services by Restland Funeral Home, Dallas, Texas. Burial in Dallas/Ft. Worth National Cemetery.
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