Dr. Jerry M Lewis Jr.

Dr. Jerry M. Lewis, Jr., born August 18, 1924, passed away after a stroke surrounded by loving family on August 5, 2012. His parents, Jerry and Peg as well as his brother, John, and sister Marty, preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Pat, as well as his children Jerry III and wife Cyndi, Cindy Reynolds and husband Gene, Nancy Minns and husband Steve, and Tom and wife Meg. He was the adoring “Gaga” to nine grandchildren: Jbeau (Jerry IV), Natalie, Emily, Meredith, Price, Eliot, Robby, Megan and Tori and two great-grandchildren Abby Grace and Isaac.

Dr. Lewis was born in Utica, New York, attended Ohio Wesleyan University, and graduated at the top of his class from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1951. He was past President of the Southern Psychiatric Association, the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and the American College of Psychiatrists, and received numerous awards from these and other organizations. Dr. Lewis served for many years as director of the Timberlawn Psychiatric Research Foundation and also served as the Psychiatrist in Chief of Timberlawn Psychiatric Hospital, where he provided the leadership that brought the hospital national recognition. He authored or co-authored over 100 journal articles and 16 books on a wide range of subjects including the dynamics of healthy families and psychotherapeutic processes. Dr. Lewis was a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, researcher, teacher and writer, and he continued to see patients until days before his death.

The extensive list of accolades, however, does not capture the profound and far-reaching impact that Dr. Lewis had on those whose lives he touched. His family, friends, colleagues, students and patients have all been inspired by his passion, commitment, curiosity, caring, discipline, scholarliness, intellect and integrity. But, his marriage to Pat was the bedrock of his life -- for which he gave her the greatest credit. His impact as a patriarch will be felt for generations to follow.

A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, August 8th at 2:00pm at Sparkman Hillcrest Northwest Highway Chapel, 7405 W. Northwest Hwy., Dallas with Dr. Kenneth Dickson officiating. Interment Services will be private. The family will receive friends at a reception following the service in the Bill Sparkman Reception Hall at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Timberlawn Psychiatric Research Foundation, P.O. Box 270789, Dallas, TX 75227. The family would like to extend their appreciation for the fine care Dr. Stuart F. Owen and his staff extended to Jerry during his illness. Online condolences may be made at www.Sparkman-Hillcrest.com

"I whisper over to myself the way of loss, the names of the dead. One by one, we lose our loved ones, our friends, our powers of work and pleasure, our landmarks, the days of our allotted time. One by one, the way we lose them, they return to us and are treasured up in our hearts. Grief affirms them, preserves them, sets the cost. Finally a man stands up alone, scoured and charred like a burnt tree, having lost everything and (at the cost only of its loss) found everything, and is ready to go. Now I am ready."

by Wendell Berry

For Pat with and for love over the past 60 years.

Let the music play on!

"DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL…I have only slipped away into the next room…I am I, and you are you…Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name; speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put no difference into your tone; wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect, without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near just around the corner

…All is well."