Jacob Charles Lewis

In the early morning hours of Saturday, April 22, 2023, Jacob Charles Lewis, age 20, passed away tragically and unexpectedly just hours after spending “the best day” laughing, dancing, and singing with his older sister, April Elizabeth Lewis Bancroft, age 26, at the Taylor Swift concert at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. On the way home from the concert, their car stalled on the freeway. Jacob was pushing the car along the shoulder to a nearby exit when he was struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver.

Jacob Lewis was born in Dallas, Texas, on October 21, 2002, to Stephen (Steve) Dean Lewis and Karyn Tracy Sobczak Lewis. Joining his doting older sister and only sibling April, Jacob would eventually go from the “little brother” to towering over the entire family at a modest 6 feet, 5 inches tall. The Lewis family lived in Cedar Hill, Texas for several years, and then in Cypress, Texas and Bluefield, Virginia for one year each, before finally settling in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston, in 2007.

Jacob attended Meadow Wood Elementary School in Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) and Memorial Parkway Junior High School and James E. Taylor High School in Katy ISD, graduating in May 2021. During his elementary years, Jacob’s passion for Pokémon led to the entire family becoming avid Pokémon Trading Card Game players. Jacob found success at local and regional tournaments, qualified for the Pokémon World Championship three times, and competed against players from around the world in Vancouver (2013), Boston (2015), and San Francisco (2016). Jacob’s father, Steve, became a Pokémon Professor and Judge and staffed multiple regional tournaments and the Pokémon World Championship, most recently in Nashville (2018) and Washington, D.C. (2019).

From a young age, Jacob loved reading and writing stories, dressing up in costumes, and acting out characters. At his elementary school talent shows, Jacob told jokes, played the piano, and sometimes did both in the same show! In junior high, Jacob truly found himself as a performer, singing in choirs and acting in school musicals including Shrek, Seussical, and Singin’ in the Rain. In high school, Jacob’s talent and passion led him to perform in plays such as the Diary of Anne Frank, Sense and Sensibility, Les Misérables, Momma Mia, and The Addams Family, to sing in choir and Expressions, the Taylor High School show choir, and to compete (clown around?) in Comedy Sports. But more than the performances, Jacob treasured the friendships and relationships that bloomed from the many hours spent rehearsing and practicing with his classmates. Although the pandemic that began during his junior year in 2020 would make live performances difficult, Jacob found an initial outlet through Stages Houston and the Young Artists Conservatory’s live original work performed on YouTube in August 2020 entitled We Might Be Together Sometime.

After high school, Jacob completed one year of college classes remotely through Lone Star College and worked at Chick-Fil-A on Mason Road in Katy, Texas. Following a gap year (2022-2023), Jacob planned to study musical theater at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in Fall 2023, a program to which he was only recently accepted. While living and working at home with his parents these past two years, Jacob found happiness through his virtual connections with friends through online video games and role-playing adventures including Dungeons & Dragons. Jacob was a dedicated Dungeon Master devoting hours to preparing the stories and scenarios for his fellow adventurers.

Jacob dreamed of one day spreading his wings on the biggest stages under Broadway’s bright lights. But if those dreams were never realized, if his future had been consigned to smaller stages or school theaters, Jacob would have been satisfied to act, direct, or teach with other performers that shared his passion. Now, thanks to the considerable charity of thousands of people who never knew him, Jacob’s name will go on in the form of college scholarships created in his honor for other aspiring thespians.

Jacob will be fondly remembered by his family, his friends, his coworkers, and his fellow performers and dreamers as a loving, caring, and kind person. A person who didn’t judge others by their appearance, their background, or their personality; only their voice, their chops, and their timing. His friends and classmates say he gave the best hugs. Though he towered over them, he didn’t make them feel small. Jacob was a big guy with a bigger heart; his long arms designed for an encompassing embrace. He will be forever missed and long remembered.

Memorial Services and Wake with an open-casket viewing will be held at the Katy Funeral Home, 23350 Kingsland Blvd, Katy, Texas 77494, on Thursday, May 4, 2023, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 pm. A Catholic Funeral Mass will be held at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church, 1530 Norwalk Drive, Katy, Texas 77450, on Friday, May 5, 2023, at 11:00 AM with an on-site reception to follow. Attendees can wear blue and/or a bow tie to help celebrate Jacob’s life.

“We sit together in the dark to know how to love each other in the light.”

-Stages Theater, Houston, Texas

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations can be made to two GoFundMe pages established for Jacob Lewis memorial scholarship funds.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/9sp7kz-jacob-lewis

https://www.gofundme.com/f/legacy-scholarship-fund-in-memory-of-jacob-lewis