David Lewis

David Otto Lewis died at his home April 13 at the age of 73, after living with colon cancer for nearly four years. He was born May 27, 1946, in Abbotsford, Wisconsin, the youngest son of Samual and Vera (Benz) Lewis. After his father died, the family moved to Milwaukee when David was 5. During his school years, he loved helping with stage crew, was part of National Honor Society and worked at an ice cream factory during the summer months. He graduated from Milwaukee Lutheran High School, attended the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, where he operated the school radio station and graduated from the University of Wisconsin--Madison in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. David worked at IBM in Rochester from 1968-2005. He was an IBM Master Inventor with 40 patents and two outstanding achievement awards. He worked on IBM System/3, IBM System/38 and AS/400 in the CPU design area. On September 15, 1973, David married Beverly Collen in Naperville, Illinois. They have two daughters, Jeni and Debbi. David built their home in Rochester, enjoyed working with wood and gardening. He was a Deacon and Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, where he sang in the choir. After he retired from IBM, David was a tax aid for AARP, where he volunteered as a teacher and coordinator. He also loved to travel, with some favorite destinations including the Adriatic Sea, Hawaii, Scotland, the Netherlands, Italy and Costa Rica. His favorite authors were Clive Cussler and Louis L'Amore. David is preceeded in death by his parents; three half-brothers; George, Lester and Earl Lewis; and a brother, Robert Lewis. He is survived by his wife, Bev; two daughters, Jeni (Lucius) Jonett and Debbi (Matt) Regennitter; two granddaughters, Iola and Lily; and a brother, Sam (Ruth) Lewis. Memorial contributions may be made to Capital Building Fund at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, Minnesota.