Joe Lewis

There are only a few things that Joe Lewis hated more than bad writing. One of these things is hurting people. He hated hurting people like most people hate getting parking tickets. Unfortunately, he was never completely successful at avoiding either. The parking tickets were because nobody carries pocket change anymore, and Joe was no exception. The hurting people was because it is hard to understand Joes view on life. Its even harder for us who continue on knowing that we will never see his wide, close-eyed smile again now that he has died. What some people may not appreciate is how Joe, who faced his own mortality at the age of 14 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, had come to grasp the only truly inalienable right people share: that of determining how our story ends. The comfort of living a good story gave Joe the help he needed to get through the roughest parts of his chemotherapy - when his veins felt like they were filled with ice and every part of his body seemed to rebel against the poisonous cure. It became important to Joe that he lived his life not as a mere sequence of days, but as a slowly-unfolding tale. This attitude carried into his 9 years of remission. It is no surprise that with this outlook, Joe developed a passion for literature music, art, and any other medium that could tell a story. Joe became the editor of his high school newspaper, The Oakwood Times, and took local writing assignments for the Commercial News in Danville, IL. The crowning achievement of his high school journalism career was being selected to co-represent the state of Illinois at a national high school journalism conference. After earning an associates degree from Danville Area Community College, where he performed with the theater group, Joe was accepted to the University of Illinois journalism program. He edited for the Buzz newspaper and worked on developing his writing style. It was during that time that he began his battle with anxiety that would persist for the rest of his life. Following college, Joe began a career with the Veterans Administration. He was disqualified from military service as his parents and brothers had done, due to his cancer. He determined that he could serve his country by ensuring that every veteran he touched was treated by him as if they were one of his brothers. According to him one day one of his brothers might actually walk through the door. While he was not much of one to fight for himself, Joe was fast to go toe-to-toe against anyone who was mistreating others. Indeed, he would allow no one to trample over the helpless just as he would allow no one to mess with his friends or, especially, his family. He enjoyed acting, writing, and watching movies. He also enjoyed making a difference in peoples lives whether it was as at the VA, as barista at Starbucks, or even as a trivia night host at various venues. The battle with anxiety continued and as his treatments continued to fail. Joes struggle grew worse. Despite his best efforts, he was losing the battle and depression had settled in. Remembering his belief in the importance of a good ending, Joe made up his mind to punctuate his life. He ate a good meal and then he finished the last chapter of his story. Indeed, Joe hated bad writing and he would cringe if he had to read this. We do not do justice to the main character. We do not lay out even the most basic facts until the end such as the fact that he was born on February 7th, 1990 to Debbie and Carl Lewis and was the youngest of three brothers. It would have probably been better to have mentioned earlier that he died at 10:43 on the 27th of August, 2014 and that there will be a visitation for him at Sunset Funeral Home in Danville on Monday, September 1st from 3-6 followed by a remembrance starting at 6:30 at which time people are asked to share their memories of Joe. Joe would never have liked to have a big fuss made over him. It was not his style. The same goes for flowers. However, if you would like to make a donation to the Illinois chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis in lieu of sending flowers, Joe would undoubtedly feel honored.