Maude L. Lewis

Maude Louise Lewis was born on June 18, 1928 in Perkins, Georgia to Milton and Georgia Lewis. She was named after both of her grandmothers, Maude and Louise, and was the only child born to her parents' union. She entered Heavenly rest with Jesus Christ on September 10, 2026.

She and her parents moved to Cincinnati in the 1930s when her father started working at the Peerless Foundry, located in Elmwood Place. She and her family eventually joined New Hope Baptist Church, where she confessed Christ as her savior.

She attended Sands Elementary and Bloom Junior High School and graduated from Woodward High School in 1944. After graduation, she held several jobs, including working alongside her mother at American Linen Supply Company. Following her calling to care for others, she became a nursing assistant at the Cincinnati VA Hospital in 1967 and devoted more than 45 years to caring for the men and women who served our country until she retired in 2012. Known for wearing her all-white uniform, she treated every patient with kindness and dignity and brought smiles and laughter to all who crossed her path.

Although Maude loved her job, she loved her family more than anything. She gave birth to her three greatest accomplishments when she became a mom to Jacqueline, Daryl and Michael Lewis. She was a proud mom, grandma and great grandma who gave all her family members nicknames and took great pride in each of their successes. She kept pictures of them throughout her house and could quickly recall the memory attached to every picture. She also kept each of their favorite snacks in her pantry whenever they came to visit. She made every holiday special by faithfully mailing cards and she celebrated each of her family members' birthdays by sending them a card and a monetary gift in dollars and coins that matched their age.

Christmas brought her great joy, and she spent the entire year searching for special gifts for loved ones. Her family lovingly nicknamed her the "Catalog Queen" due to her knack for discovering unique and "interesting" items that only could've been found in a catalog! When the time came for her to receive gifts, no matter the occasion, her favorite gift was always the same, a Kroger gift card!

Additionally, she could also be found on any given day reading the newspaper or watching multiple news broadcasts, earning the name, "News Grandma." While she dished out nicknames to everyone, the entire family affectionately called Maude, "Mama Lewis," after her first grandchild, Vonchelle, blessed her with the name more than 50 years ago, as she truly was and will forever be the Mama of the Lewis Crew.

Mama Lewis loved baseball, especially the Brooklyn Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Cincinnati Reds. She remembered the days when the sport was segregated and she admired the African American players who broke barriers. Whether she was watching in-person or on television, she cheered on her favorite players with a lot of excitement as though she were right in the middle of the action. With a bag of potato chips and a cold Miller Lite or Pepsi in hand, she never missed a chance to enjoy the game.

Mama Lewis will be missed for the love she planted in each of her loved ones, her infectious laugh, the way she could remember people's names and fun facts about them, even if she only met them once, her zesty one liners and hilarious jokes.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Georgia Louise Lewis (Gabby) and her father Milton Lewis, her grandson, Darren Lewis and grandson-in-law, Samuel (Sam) Davis and her great grandson, Christopher Louis Jones, Jr. (Little Boopy).

Those left behind to cherish her memory are her daughter, caregiver and best friend: Jacqueline (Jackie/Jack) Lewis, son Daryl (Duke/Booch) Lewis (Diane (Di)), son Michael (Buddy) Lewis (Terri (T)), two granddaughters: Vonchelle (Chellie/Vonnie) Davis, Danielle (Suggie) Gentry (Jermaine (JJ)), three grandsons: Christopher (Critter Man) Lewis, Daryl (Spud) Lewis, Geoffrey (Geoff Geoff) Lewis, one great granddaughter, Aubrey (Bri) Lewis, two bonus daughters: Marguerite (Cookie) Johnson (Joe), Yvonne (Bebe) Smith (Carl), one bonus son William (Bro) Beavers (Faith), and a host of close family friends.

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