Obituary of Dorothy Lewis

WELLSVILLE: Dorothy Lewis was many things to many people. Most people knew her as the local Avon lady. To her family and friends, she was the most loving person everybody knew. She was the type of person who did more than say it, Dorothy was the type of person to show up and prove it. She didn’t miss soccer or basketball games - she cheered loudly and proudly for those she loved. She didn’t care who it embarrassed, and she didn’t care what other people thought - Dorothy was going to let her family know she loved them. She was a shining example of how love is proven. Born to Erba and Ruth (Hurler) Baker in Sabinsville, PA, Dorothy grew up knowing what it meant to go without and to not have. She married Walter Davis and had two children, Mary (William) Mangalaw and David (Mary) Davis, and she spent the rest of her days making sure that her children and grandchildren never went without anything. Also, a hard worker, she made a living at Galeton Production, Coopers Slides, and Current Control. She worked for 30 years, after her regular jobs, selling Avon door-to-door. The friends she made and cared for during this time were a shining example of how much she loved helping others. However, the work she did off the clock, and for no pay at all, was what everyone knew her for. She spent her time caring for and about people. Oftentimes, those Avon calls were more about helping people and less about selling products. She worked inside of the homes of others, caring for the elderly and infirm, she brought little gifts each year to her customers at Christmas time and birthdays, she worked for her family and friends doing anything she could to make their lives easier. Dorothy married Ronald “Jack” Lewis in June of 1971 and together they built a home and family based solely on loving those around them. They were staples at Whitesville events, benefits, and celebrations. Jack and Dorothy were well known, and well loved, by everyone. They included their family in everything they did, from camping to cooking. Jack and Dorothy traveled all over the Northeast to see every country music star of the time - and those trips were no exception to the love they shared with others. They took their children or grandchildren on every single trip without fail. Family dinner every Sunday, morning coffee with family before work, working weekends at the snack-shack for her son Dave’s business, The Back River Raceway, and magic Christmas mornings all built on the limitless love of Grandma Dorothy. There was not a single day that passed that Dorothy Lewis drove by a family member’s house without stopping - ever. She was just as loving to people who were not family by blood. Countless people saw Dorothy as an extension of their own family. There are so many people who called her “Gramma,” sister, or mom, because that’s how she treated everyone she met: like they were special. She would take the time to talk to and hug anyone, she would bring gifts and do favors, go out of her way to remind someone that they mattered. And to her children and grandchildren, you knew you really were special, because Grandma told you so every day. Dorothy Lewis is predeceased by her husband, Ronald “Jack” Lewis, her beloved son, David L. Davis, her brothers Lyn Edward Taft and Lyle (Edith) Taft, and her parents, Erba & Ruth Baker. She is survived by her daughter, Mary Lynn (William) Mangalaw, her daughter-in-law, Mary (Dave) Davis, her sister Eleanor (Rex) Johnston-Nye, and her brothers Howard (Brenda) Baker and Erba “Herb” Baker. Dorothy also had 8 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren, who loved her more than anything in this world, in addition to several nieces and nephews. Dorothy Lewis was more than just a Grandma, Avon lady, loud cheering section, and sweet little old lady, She was the lifeblood and beating heart of an entire family. Godspeed, Dorothy, until we meet again. There were no public calling hours, friends and family were invited to a Mass of Christian burial Friday, January 14 at 9:30 am at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Rexville. Burial followed in St. Mary’s Church Yard Cemetery in Rexville. Please consider memorial donations in Dorothy’s name to either the Whitesville Fire Department, Main St. Whitesville, N.Y. 14897 or to the Whitesville Rod and Gun Club, 410 Ste. Rte. 248, Rexville, N.Y. 14877. Arrangements are with the H.P. Smith & Son, Inc. Funeral Home in Canisteo.