SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Barnett-Lewis Funeral Home is looking to move on after the loss of Elery Lewis.
Lewis was involved in the funeral business for six decades, making him a staple in the Sioux Falls community. His children remember him as a man who put his heart and soul into helping families get through some of the hardest moments of their lives.
As the sun shines through the stain-glass windows at Barnett-Lewis Funeral Home, the family-owned business is now without its brightest light, Elery Lewis.
“His passion was always the funeral business,” Elery Lewis’ daughter, Lisa Lewis-Huemoeller, said.
Lewis left behind quite the legacy after spending 60 years in the funeral business.
“60 years, that’s a long time, and it is a people business. That’s what he was all about was the people and the people of Sioux Falls,” Elery Lewis’ daughter, Kathy Lewis-Junker said.
“It was just a dream of his. He told me at a very young age, 16, 18, that he knew that that’s what his calling was and that’s what he wanted to do,” Elery Lewis’ son, David Lewis, said.
Lewis grew up on a farm near Lake Crystal, Minnesota. He earned a degree in Mortuary Science in San Francisco before moving to Sioux Falls, where he married his wife, Rita.
“When he came to town, he came and met with Tom Barnett, and they just were a great fit. My dad always said he never felt like Tom was his boss. It was always a friendship, and he just taught him a lot about the funeral business and taught him a lot about Sioux Falls,” Kathy Lewis-Junker said.
After 10 years of working with the Barnetts, Lewis took over the funeral home.
“Mr. Barnett became ill, and it was just at an age where his older sons already had careers, and his younger sons were too young. It just worked for him to take over the business, and he still worked with Mr. Barnett and had a great working relationship with him and the Barnett family,” Lisa Lewis-Huemoeller said.
As Lewis started to make his mark in Sioux Falls, many started to know him as “Skip.”
“Elery is a Welsh name and very common in Minnesota, not so common in South Dakota. People, when he would introduce himself, he would say, ‘My name is Elery,’ and they’d say, ‘Elroy, Ellie?’ They couldn’t get it right, and he would say, ‘Skip it.’ Then, pretty soon, he got to be known as ‘Skip,'” Lisa Lewis-Huemoeller said.
Lewis always took pride in serving people going through some of the most difficult times in their lives.
Jordan DeSmet: What made him so good at what he did?
David Lewis: His compassion. His empathy, able to talk to a family in really their hardest times.
“It’s so hard because people are really experience passing. Grief is a hard thing, and I think he just really could help people through that,” Kathy Lewis-Junker said.
“He never judged if people didn’t have the finances that they needed; he would help them, a lot of times not charging people. Really, his passion was taking care of families,” Lisa Lewis-Huemoeller said.
Lewis raised his children to live with the same compassion.
“He expected a lot of us. He expected us to be hard workers. He expected, I think, that same care and empathy for others that he modeled,” Lisa Lewis-Huemoeller said.
“I grew up to to respect things because of the way that he raised me and us, both my sisters as well,” David Lewis said.
All of Lewis’ kids got to work right alongside their father.
“I got to meet people that have known him for several years, many generations of families that have come through, and I got to hear stories that I would have never got to hear,” Kathy Lewis-Junker said.
And they will always cherish the time they spent with a man that radiated joy.
“He and I, we would have sing-alongs in the car, a lot of country sing-alongs. He loved Elvis. He loved going to concerts. He loved being out on the town,” Kathy Lewis-Junker said.
“He had a great sense of humor during the last few months. He had a lot of doctor’s appointments, and he would have those nurses and doctors laughing by the time we left. He was in a lot of pain, but you wouldn’t know that by his persona,” Lisa Lewis-Huemoeller said.
Lewis was the third-longest license holder in the South Dakota Funeral Association. He also avidly supported causes such as the Wounded Warrior Project, St. Jude’s Hospital and the Knights of Columbus.
