IN MEMORIAM: Fred J. Lewis, 91; WWII
Veteran Was President of D&H Union
ONEONTA – Fred J. Lewis, 91, a 40 year veteran of the D&H railroad and president of the local chapter of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, passed away Aug. 2, 2014, at Fox Hospital after a brief illness.
He was born on Nov. 12, 1922, in Athens, the son of Henry M. and Ethel Johnson Lewis. Fred attended Oneonta schools and was a member of the Oneonta High School class of 1941.
On April 2, 1946, he married Dorothy Moore in Laurens.
Fred worked for more than 40 years for the D&H Railroad, starting as a trainman and then as a conductor for 32 years, retiring in 1982. He was active in railroad labor, serving as president of the local lodge of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the Order of Railroad Conductors. These organizations became the United Transportation Union, of which he was a life member.
During WWII, he served in the Army for three years in the United States and Europe. He served in the Battles of Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe. After his discharge, he returned to work on the D&H. Besides his union work, he served 17 years on the Oneonta Fire Department Call List and was a life member of the Oneonta Firemen Inc. He was proud to be a citizen of Oneonta and served on many committees and commissions. He served on the reapportionment committee when the city went from six to eight wards, and for many years on the Public Service Board.
Fred was a former member of the Democratic City Committee and twice ran for alderman from the Fifth Ward. He was a life member of the VFW, member of the Elks Lodge 1312, Civil War Round Table in Norwich and Civil War Preservation Trust.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Lewis, Oneonta; their children Joanne (Stanley) Fuller, Delhi; Jeanne Lewis, Oneonta; James (Diane) Lewis, Kirkwood; Janice (Kevin) Yost, Canajoharie; and Julie Lewis, Oneonta; grandchildren, Kelly (Philip) Snyder, Bloomingdale; Patrick (Melinda) Lewis, Binghamton; Lindsey (John) White, Ithaca; Jillian Lewis, Charleston, S.C.; Megan (Jeremy) Dietz, Liverpool; and Katie Yost, Saratoga; and great-grandchildren, Annabelle Snyder, Avery and Adam Lewis, Gavin White, and Emma Dietz.
He was predeceased by his granddaughter Cara Fuller in 2012.
Calling hours will be 6 – 8 p.m. Friday, August 8, 2014 at Lewis, Hurley & Pietrobono Funeral Home, 51 Dietz St., Oneonta. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 9, with the Rev. Paul Messner officiating, at the funeral home. Interment will follow at the Glenwood Cemetery, Oneonta.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Civil War Roundtable in Norwich or the Salvation Army.
Arrangements are entrusted to the Lewis, Hurley & Pietrobono Funeral Home.