Lewis E. Widder, age 78, died Saturday, December 19, 2020 from complications of COVID at St. Nicholas Hospital with family at his side.
He was born April 19, 1942 in Sheboygan to the late Donald and Elda (Nagel) Widder. He attended Bethlehem Lutheran Grade School and graduated from Central High School in 1960. He was united in marriage to Janice Buss on June 15, 1963 at Zion Reformed Church. He was employed at Optenburg Iron Works for the majority of his working years, taking two years off when he and Janice ran Widders Bar and Grill in Rockwood, WI.
Lewis enjoyed sharing his love of hunting, fishing and camping with his family. He was also an avid sports fan, he especially enjoyed Brewers baseball and NASCAR. He looked forward to a yearly vacation with family to the Wisconsin Dells. He enjoyed making woodworking projects and drawings for his family. He brought laughter and joy to everyone he met. In retirement he was known as “Mr. Fix It”.
Lewis is survived by his wife, Janice; children, Christine (Steve) Meifert, Michelle (Steve) Hamus and Michael (Charis) Widder; five grandchildren, Amy Meifert and her fiancé Rick Smale of Sheboygan, Carrie Schwalbe of Sheboygan, Jennifer Meifert of Plymouth, William Bonnell Jr. of Sheboygan and MacKenzie Hamus of Sheboygan Falls; one great-grandson, Jonathan Schwalbe and sister-in-law, Jolene Harris of San Antonio, TX. He is further survived by nieces, a nephew, other relatives and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his in-laws, Everett and Eleanor Buss; his infant son, Daniel and his brother and sister-in-law, Arnold and Judy Althen.
The family would like to thank Dr. Mancheski, Dr. Bettag, Dr. Matthews and staff at the Blood Center, Dr. Dhillon and the ICU staff at St. Nicholas Hospital for their care and compassion. A special thank you goes to Lewis’ best friend Art who called him weekly. Lewis always looked forward to every call.
Lewis’ wish was to be cremated and his family will have a celebration of his life at a later date.
Condolences may be expressed online at www.reinboldfh.com.