Jane Tarilton Lewis

On May 26, 2019, Jane Tarilton Lewis, 90, went to be with her Lord. She passed away peacefully at home at Lake Forest Park in Ft. Pierce, Fla., after a rapid decline in health.

Born January 7, 1929 in Miami, Florida, Mrs. Lewis was the daughter of Stanley and Nellie Tarilton. At Miami Edison Senior High School, she was Editor of the yearbook and a proud member of the Cadettes marching team. She attended Florida State University and met her future husband, Weldon Lewis, then an engineering student at the University of Florida, on a trip from Miami back to school. They were married in 1948 and soon had three sons. Always active in civic organizations in addition to being a wife and mother, Jane was president of the Coral Gables Junior Woman’s Club and in 1960 was named runner-up as Dade County’s Outstanding Young Woman. She was the statewide Director of International Relations for the Florida Junior Woman’s Club and chaired that organization’s national convention in Miami Beach.

In 1963 the Lewis family moved to Ft. Pierce, where Weldon was City Engineer and Director of Public Works and later the longtime St. Lucie County Administrator. For several years, when her boys were in school in Ft. Pierce, Jane was employed as Administrative Secretary at both the United Way and Ft. Pierce Memorial Hospital. But soon after arriving in Ft. Pierce, she truly found her new “career” with the First United Methodist Church, where she was initially Education Assistant and then remained active in church affairs for many years as Church Historian and as President of the United Methodist Women and an officer on the district level as well.

A devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and recently even great-great-grandmother, and friend to many, Jane will be greatly missed. Her positive energy, humor, vitality, and giving nature made her a pillar of her church and in the lives of many people. Her faith was a central part of her daily life and was with her at the end, as she faced the prospect of “going home” with calm acceptance.

Mrs. Lewis is survived by her sons Courtland Lewis, of Unicoi, Tennessee; Warren Lewis of Vero Beach; and Michael Lewis of Ft. Pierce; daughters-in-law Margaret and Karen Lewis; grandchildren Jamey Lewis (wife Teresa) and Darcy Lewis (husband Simeon); four great-grandsons Taylor, Ethan, Noah, and Max; and other members of a close and loving extended family including nieces Kathy Johnson (husband Wayne) and Jane DeVos (husband Glen).

Memorial gifts may be made to the First United Methodist Church in Ft. Pierce or the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, sent to the church at 616 Orange Avenue, Ft. Pierce, FL 34950; or to your favorite charity in memory of Jane Lewis.

A memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church on Friday, June 7, at 11:00 a.m., with Rev. Timothy May officiating. A reception will follow in the church Centennial Hall. Interment of cremated remains will be at the Church of the Resurrection cemetery in Little Switzerland, North Carolina (Jane’s beloved mountain home), at a later date.