Jesse "Jess" Lewis Jr.

Jess was born the oldest of four on October 8, 1966, in Detroit, Michigan. As a young man, Jess possessed an innate curiosity for all things electronic, taking apart anything and everything he could find. Academically, he was immensely talented; his high marks earned him an invitation to Cass Technical High School at the age of 14. While navigating his scholarly demands, he worked as a local paperboy and helped care for his younger siblings and his father, who was battling Multiple Sclerosis. His father passed away when Jess was just 17 years old.

Enduring the challenges of poverty, family illness, and the dangers of the city, Jess found great resolve in his faith. He remained steadfast in the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, leading his family by example.

It was through his faith that he found the inspiration to serve a mission in Cape Town, South Africa. After two years of witnessing great cultural change, becoming fluent in Afrikaans, and touching the hearts of many, Jess returned home proud, humbled, and financially strapped. In 1988, with no more than $100 in his pocket, he purchased a Greyhound bus ticket to travel from his family’s home in Kentucky to Salt Lake City in search of work, eventually returning to Detroit.

Not long after returning to his hometown, Jess met the woman of his dreams, Kelly Varney. They were married in 1989 and shared 37 wonderful years together. In the early years of their marriage, Jess balanced life as a full-time student at Henry Ford Community College and an entrepreneur, starting his own locksmithing business to make ends meet.

This relentless grit defined Jess’s life. He and Kelly welcomed their son, Connor, in 1995. A few years later, Jess sacrificed a high-paying engineering role at Ford Motor Company to relocate his family to Chandler, Arizona.

In Arizona, Jess thrived as a Controls Engineer and a returning student, earning his Bachelor’s Degree in IT. Though he was diagnosed with Porphyria in 2003 and became permanently disabled in 2004, he never stopped creating. Despite having a condition few doctors had ever seen, Jess persisted; developing Android games, 3D printing items for Etsy, and designing software for his son’s business ideas. He lived as the true embodiment of "grit."

He remains an eternal inspiration to many and will be missed.

Jess is survived by his wife, Kelly; his son, Connor; daughter-in-law, Nicole; and his sister, Alison Lewis.

The surviving family has decided to have a private service in his honor and appreciates your understanding.