Obituary for
Keith Lewis
It is with great sadness, the family would like to announce the passing of Keith Lewis at the age of 93 years. He is survived by his loving wife, Luella; sons, Gordon (Deborah) and Daniel (Mary); daughters, Pamela (Ken) and Deborah (Mark) Macdonald; grandchildren, Troy (Jill), Shaylyn (Doug) Lewis-Saganiuk, Brooklen, Robert, Dexter and Grace Macdonald; great-grandchildren, Claire, William and Samuel; step brothers, Francis and Wayne; numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom were dear to his heart.
Keith was predeceased by his parents, Alfred and Ruth, stepmother, Mamie and brother, John. Keith was born in Newmarket, Ontario, 25 miles north of Toronto. After high school, he apprenticed for 3 years in business and his passion has always been the food services restaurant industry.
In 1948, Keith heeded the call to ‘go west young man, go west’. His first stop was Banff, Alberta and for a few years worked a wide variety of jobs from driving the earth moving trucks and operating private sight-seeing tours. Keith met his wife Luella in Banff where she was waitressing at the K.E. Hotel and they were married on November 20th, 1950 in Olds, Alberta. Keith and Luella settled in Calgary where he again worked in the food service industry as salesman and later a sales manager for a frozen food company selling to restaurants, hospitals and institutions. In Calgary, Keith and Luella had two sons, Gordon and Daniel. Then Keith moved to Edmonton and became manager of Chicken on the Way and when the company sold, he rented a full line dining room for 3 years and at the same time he opened the Burger Bar in Edmonton Kensington area and County Farms in the Edmonton Londonderry area as a sideline. He discontinued the dining room to concentrate on specializing his burgers at his Burger Bar and County Farms fast food restaurants. During this time, Keith and Luella adopted two daughters, Pamela and Deborah. Then he sold the Burger Bar and reopened up a Dairy Queen franchise in the same location as County Farms. In 1998, Keith sold the Dairy Queen and fully retired from the food industry.
Keith always had that sense of adventure. He loved to travel with his wife. Some places he has toured are Jamaica with his daughter Deborah and family, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland Hawaii, Indonesia, a Caribbean Cruise and a memorable trip to Italy with his son Dan, just to name a few. Keith also had many interests. Keith took a clown program. His clown name was ‘Bumper’ and he would perform at special fund raising events. Keith also took a program in flower arranging which enticed him to follow with courses in Sugar Artistry and Wedding Cake decorating. Many weddings of friends and family were graced with a wedding cake made by Keith. Keith’s other hobbies included coin and stamp collecting, raising pedigree dogs and Hydro Plane boat racing with his son Gordon. As well, he loved to golf and he volunteered after retirement at the Cross Cancer Clinic until the age of 90.
Keith’s happiest times were spent with family, friends and restaurant colleagues. Always a gentleman, Keith will be remembered as a humble and kind soul, who loved his family and it was so important to him that his wife of 70 years be taken care of should he pass away before her. Keith impacted the lives of so many – a life well lived who be forever loved and missed by many.
Cremation has taken place and a private family memorial will be held on June 28th, 2021. The service will be live-streamed for those wanting to remember Keith. Details will be located on the Park Memorial website.
Donations can be made to covenanthealth.ca – Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre, Edmonton, AB where his wife of 70 years resides in Long Term Care.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Keith
Lewis 2021..
Death notice for the town of: Edmonton, Province: Alberta