Patsy Ruth Lewis

Patsy (“Pat”) Ruth Lewis passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at the age of ninety-five years old, at last reunited with her late husband, Jerry M. Lewis, Jr., as well as her parents Clyde (“Dutch”) and Bettie Price, sister Margie Stevenson, and son-in-law Gene Reynolds. She is survived by her brother, Clyde Price, and children, Jerry III and wife Cyndi, Cindy Reynolds, Nancy Minns and husband Steve, and Tom and wife Meg. Pat was lovingly known as “Monga” to her nine grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren: Jbeau (Jerry IV) Lewis and wife Milana (Mara), Natalie Crawford and husband Jason (Campbell and Rhett), Emily Chambers and husband Trent (Abby Grace, Isaac, and Eli), Meredith Perry and husband Griffin (Ella, Piper, and Finn), Price Lewis, Eliot Riedel, Robby Lewis and wife Maggie (Rosie and Bea), Megan King and husband Johnny (Kelly and Preston), and Tori Lewis and soon-to-be husband Mason Smith.

Born on December 8, 1927, in Vernon, Texas, Pat attended Vernon High School and, later, Parkland Hospital School of Nursing. Marrying Jerry in 1949, Pat embarked on the greatest journey of her life – one of love, mutual respect and support, and emotional security. Pat and Jerry loved each other jointly, and fiercely, and constructed a family from the fibers of this love.

Pat lived entirely. She was warm, loving and doggedly loyal. She could be playful and mischievous. She was charming and beautiful, yet humble. She was always gracious and generous. She was determined, self-sufficient and comfortable in her own solitude. She was a force to be reckoned with on the tennis court, even well into her eighties. She loved a good card game, danced at every opportunity, and always appreciated a good joke. She loved watching golf and singing Sinatra. She was the last to leave a party. She told it like it was. Just ask her tennis group at Lakewood Country Club or her fellow members of the Possum Hollow Sewing Club. These women provided Pat with such a sense of community, a stronghold of joy and endless fun over the years, but particularly after Jerry’s passing.

To know Pat, was to be blessed with her unconditional love. Her laughter. Her joy. She loved boldly, and without expectation – and in turn she taught each of us to love. At the end, Pat left us as she always tended to – laughing together and loving each other just a little bit more. She will be eternally missed.

A private interment service will be held at Grove Hill for Pat’s family. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Jerry M. Lewis, M.D. Mental Health Research Foundation, 6301 Gaston Avenue, Suite 620, Dallas, Texas 75214.

“Pat and I joke about our anxiety regarding the other’s death. Much of this involves waking up in the middle of the night and listening to hear each other’s breathing. Or that moment when I bring her coffee in the morning, and she awakens and says ‘Thank you.’ She is relieved that I am there, and I am relieved that she wakes up. The message for each of us is that the person loved the most in the world is still alive, and life goes on“

Our dearest friends are gone or going. These losses impact us profoundly. It is good that we have each other to talk with, that neither of us feels entirely alone in our sadness.”

- Jerry M. Lewis, Jr., M.D., Reflections on the Good Life: A Psychotherapist Writes to His Grandchildren.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Grove-Hill.com for the Lewis family.