Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | July 29, 1894 |
Place of Birth | Credit Forks, Caledon, Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | David J Lewis, father, Tuffnell, Saskatchewan |
Trade / Calling | Farmer |
Religion | Methodist |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 104362 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | 68th Battalion |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Infantry |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Date of Enlistment | August 5, 1915 |
Age at Enlistment | 21 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | April 22, 1963 |
Age at Death | 68 |
Buried At | Mission City Memorial Park, Santa Clara, California |
Plot | L-275 |
David Stanley Lewis was born on 29 July 1894 in Credit Forks, Caledon, Ontario. His father David James Lewis was from Nova Scotia while his mother Priscilla Brown was from Ontario. The couple married on 4 October 1882 in Euphrasia, Grey, Ontario where David Sr was farming. Their first born child, son Henry Owen, was born in Euprasia in 1884 but by the time of the birth of daughter Ella May in 1891 the family had moved to Credit Forks where David worked as a quarryman. Another child, Clara Lavina, was born in 1898. At some point after the 1901 census the family moved to the MacKenzie district in Saskatchewan, farming in the Tuffnell/Sheho area.
David signed his attestation papers with the 68th Battalion on 5 August 1915 in Regina, Saskatchewan. His occupation was given as farmer and his father David in Tuffnell as next of kin. According to his service record, while training in Regina, La Grippe (influenza) was epidemic in the barracks. By February of 1916 David had come down with the flu resulting in the complication of endocarditis. ‘Endocarditis is an infection of the endocardium, which is the inner lining of your heart chambers and heart valves. Endocarditis generally occurs when bacteria, fungi or other germs from another part of your body, such as your mouth, spread through your bloodstream and attach to damaged areas in your heart. If it’s not treated quickly, endocarditis can damage or destroy your heart valves and can lead to life-threatening complications. Treatments for endocarditis include antibiotics and, in certain cases, surgery.’ (Mayo Clinic) He was admitted to the Grey Nuns Hospital in Regina with acute endocarditis that subsided in about two weeks but left a marked mitral regurgitation (leaky heart valve). Given that the disability was due to service and would increase over the course of his life, in late July David was referred for a pension and discharged as medically unfit on 27 August 1916.
After discharge, David returned to the family farm. On 22 November 1917, in nearby Theodore, he married Maribel Evelyn Tracy. Born on 10 January 1894 in Theodore, Maribel was the daughter of farmers Charles and Margaret (née Harre) Tracy. By 1928 and the birth of their son Gordon, David and Maribel were living in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. At some point the marriage failed, with Maribel and Gordon moving to Fairhope, Alabama in 1944. At the time David was living in Fort William, Ontario. According to a later Kenora, Ontario newspaper article reporting his death, David lived for a number of years in Kenora where he worked as a barber and resided on Third Street South.
In 1951 David moved to San Jose, California, listed as separated from Maribel on the border crossing record at the time, but travelling with Wilhelmina Butt, Wilhelmina also going by the surname of Lewis. Wilhelmina Dorthea Ullerich was born on 20 May 1900 in Regina to German immigrants Anton Ullerich and Emma Leman. She had previously been married to Robert Butt and the couple had given birth to one son, Myron Robert in June of 1922. A marriage record was not found for David and Wilhelmina but they lived as man and wife in San Jose, Wilhelmina assuming the surname of Lewis. While in San Jose David worked as a janitor for the Coca Cola Company.
David died on 22 April 1963 in San Jose. His Veteran Death card gave widow Maribel Lewis of Pacific Grove, California as next of kin. At the time of his death he was survived by Wilhelmina, son Gordon, stepson Myron, Maribel, and his sister Ella (Alexander) Hoffman. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother Henry (Olive Hammond) in 1943 in New Westminster, BC and his sister Clara (William) Law in 1952 in Regina. His sister Ella died in 1964 in California and is interred in the Creston, BC cemetery. Maribel died in 1965 in Pacific Grove and Wilhelmina in 1967 in San Jose. David is interred in Mission City Memorial Park, Santa Clara, California.
By Judy Stockham
Grave marker photo: MathTeacherGuy on findagrave.com