Obituary of Marilyn Rae Lewis

Marilyn Rae Lewis was born on September 26, 1936 to her parents, Ray Emmett Street and Lucille Street (Kirby), in Tacoma Washington. 

Marilyn grew up with her parents and brother, Lester, in Tacoma, WA. She went through primary school and then attended the University of Washington where she completed her bachelor's degree in psychology. She later met her sweetheart, Hugh Lewis, and they were married on June 12, 1959. They had four children together: Mark, Linda, Julie and Michael. After a few years in Tacoma, they moved across the bridge to their forever home in Port Orchard Washington. Together they established a real working homestead with their family. Everyone learned how to make that little piece of heaven work. Her dedication to the garden kept their family fed all year. She even assigned rows to each of her children. Her daughters have inherited her green thumb and now both have thriving gardens themselves. Marilyn has had so many different passions in her life and has touched so many along the years while sharing those passions. She was fortunate enough to give of her children experiences in their lives only one could hope for. She was the glue that bonded our families together. There were countless gatherings of aunties, cousins, uncles, siblings, neighbors and their families at the farm. She was also very selfless when it came to her children. She found ways to share moments with them while teaching resilience and compassion.  She was Mark's biggest fan and made it to almost every jazz gig she could, even in the Netherlands. Her love for horses was shared with Linda. They would be found often on horseback together. She was Linda’s 4H leader and mentor. She shared one of her biggest loves with Julie: her love for cats and dogs. Julie helped her raise and show her beloved Samoyeds and Marilyn took her to every dog show. When she had Michael, she knew right away how mechanically talented he was. He was always the first one to follow his dad around to learn how to help. When Hugh was gone working long hours, Marilyn was so confident in Michael, she would have him fix every appliance or tractor around the farm because she knew he could do it. 

Throughout the years her children blessed her with 10 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. She was a huge support for her family. Anytime anyone needed anything she was the first to help. Her door was always open for us.  Her best days were when all of her family was around her at the pool helping her pick blueberries and shelling peas on the patio. Those experiences, her love, and life lessons we had with her will keep her alive with us forever.

She passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 9th 2021 at the age of 84 after listening to her favorite jazz musician, exactly one month and three days after her brother, Lester Street. May she rest in peace with all of our loved ones who have passed.