Edward “Eddie” James Lewis, Jr., 74, passed away peacefully at home on November 21st, 2016, in Missouri City, Texas from complications of dementia. Eddie was born and raised in Omaha, NE to Vivian Ruth and Edward James Lewis, Sr. on December 16th, 1941. As a young man he enjoyed being outdoors with his family hunting, fishing and working with horses. He was an avid pianist who studied under his late aunt Addie Hinton since he was a young boy and attended Central High School prior to setting out to pursue his independence which included aspirations of becoming a jazz musician in Los Angeles, CA in the early 1960's.
As an aspiring jazz piano player he worked to hone his craft in hopes of playing on the acclaimed Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, which he did with his prized Fender Rhodes keyboard which was once owned by a Sonny and Cher show band member. A year or so later, he met a young UCLA student named Cheryl Highwarden whom he married in 1964 and they had 1 son, Edward, in 1967. The father and young son loved their time together which often included horse riding at Circle K ranch in Valencia, CA where the two rode horses by day and enjoyed burgers, movies and jazz clubs by night all over LA and the San Fernando Valley.
Eddie was a huge fan of the original Tommy's Burger in Los Angeles and if you've never been there...well, drop everything and go now (http://www.originaltommys.com/locations/details.php?loc=14).
By the late 1970s, although the couple divorced, he remained a constant fixture on the sidelines of his son's Pop Warner football league games. In his later years, he became an active participant in local Southern California native American tribal celebrations, which he frequented with his nephew Christian James, wife Simone and the Scott children (Sundri, Shimri, and Sander) whom he loved dearly. Eddie tremendously enjoyed spending time with his family including cousins, aunt's and uncles as you will see in the pictorial tribute of this website. He most frequently looked forward to annual Superbowl parties, and MPF family reunion gatherings.
His career was diverse including one of his earliest positions at Beverly Hills Typewriter which comes with many celebrity stories, various roles in manufacturing at RC Cola, planning at Hughes Aircraft and helicopter divisions as well as driver and supervisory positions at Sunline Transportation in Palm Springs, CA until his retirement in 2009. In 2011, his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia necessitated his relocation to Missouri City to enjoy his retirement years in Texas with his grand-daughters, Lauren (18), Leah (17) and Lindsay (11), his son and daughter-in-law, Cindy.
He will be missed by many, and survived by his son Eddie 3rd, daughter-in-law Cindy and children, nephew Christian Scott and family, brother Syhid, uncles, aunts and many maternal and paternal cousins, nieces and nephews. He is immediately preceded in death by his parents Vivian and Edward Sr. and his beloved sister Constance "Connie" Scott.
He will be laid to rest on Saturday, November 26th, 2016 at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston, TX at 1:30 p.m.
Correspondence to the Lewis family may be sent to 3902 Sawyer Bend Ln, Sugar Land, TX 77479.
In lieu of gifts, the family requests that a tribute donation be made in Eddie’s honor, to your local chapter of the Lewy Body Dementia Association https://www.lbda.org/
Arrangements are under the direction of Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, Houston, TX. Thank you all for your kind and heartfelt sympathies during this time of loss.
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