Joe Lewis

Details: Category: Obituaries; Created on Wednesday, 30 July 2014 13:52; Hits: 9481

A memorial service for Joe Lewis will be held noon-3 p.m. Friday, August 1, at the Sitka Elks Lodge.
“Please join us to celebrate Joe’s life,” his family and friends said.
Joe, a longtime Sitka fisherman, passed away peacefully early Monday morning, July 28.
He was born in 1931 in Ketchikan, the son of Joe and Ruby Lewis. He grew up with his older sister Betty and graduated from Ketchikan High School. He enjoyed playing high school basketball and then played city league for many years. If he wasn’t on the court, you could find him in the crowd of the basketball tournaments, cheering on the players.
After high school Joe joined the U.S. Coast Guard and was stationed in Florida. There, he met his first wife, Molly, the mother to his four children: Jody, Gordon, Donna and Connie.
After the family returned to Ketchikan he started Joe’s Marina. With his love for fishing and the ocean, it wasn’t long before he followed his heart and became a commercial fisherman in Southeast Alaska.
Joe spent many years in the Bering Sea as a skipper of many boats crabbing in the winter months and seining for salmon during the summer out of Southeast Alaska.
Thirty-eight years ago, he met his current wife, Judy, and they have been inseparable ever since. Judy and her two children, Ty and Tari joined the Lewis family.
It was at this time that Joe and Judy decided it would be an adventure to take the whole family commercial fishing. They taught the kids how to seine for salmon. Many other fisherman thought Joe and Judy were crazy to have a deck full of teenagers. But, they proved them wrong when they were one of the top boats and were able to deck load the boat, Joe was so proud. With help from some experienced crew, Joe was able to pull it off and get the kids and Judy the experience to succeed.
Joe loved having his family and dogs onboard, and sharing his love for the ocean with them. Many years were enjoyed living onboard the F/V Dream Maid and F/V Johnny A year-round, fishing, crabbing, hunting and beach combing in Southeast Alaska.
Joe was a great dad and shared lots of experiences with his children. He owned a ranch in Snohomish, Washington, where he had the kids in mind. The family enjoyed a pool, horses, cows, motor bikes, water skiing and many happy memories.
His mother Ruby (Gigi) and her husband Hamberlin (Ham) also lived on the ranch and were able to share these fun times with the family. Always the role model, Joe taught the kids good work ethics and how to be meticulous housekeepers. The most important rule learned was the proper direction the toilet paper roll spins; if not, you had to change it! If you don’t know the answer, just ask one of the Lewis kids.
In his free time Joe loved the outdoors, hunting, trips to False Island to four-wheel, listening to country music and sharing good fishing and hunting stories with friends.
Joe was a great friend, husband, father and grandfather who will be forever missed by all who knew him and shared in his life’s adventure.
He was preceded in death by his mother, father, stepfather, sister Betty Hendrickson and daughter Jody Vilandre.
Joe is survived by wife, Judy Lewis, son Gordon (Moody) Lewis, daughter Donna Lewis, daughter Connie Brown, stepdaughter Tari Eagan, stepson Ty Barkhoefer, their spouses, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.