John H Lewis

JOHN HAROLD LEWIS passed away peacefully on June 28, 2021 in Orange County, California, at the age of 84. John Lewis was born February 2, 1937 in Vancouver, Canada, the youngest of Andrew and Frances May’s four children. In 1942, John’s family moved to Long Beach, California, where John attended area public schools, eventually graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1954. John was a lifelong lover of sports and played basketball during high school.

John attended Long Beach City College for two years, majoring in mechanical engineering before transferring to UCLA. Although he would leave UCLA to join the United States Army, John always remained a true Bruin fan. In the Army, John served as a Personnel Specialist at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston until the completion of his military service in 1960.

After John’s discharge from the Army, he moved back to Los Angeles, where he soon met one of the neighbors in his little apartment complex, a schoolteacher from Iowa named Shirley Ann Nielsen, who would become the love of his life. In December 1961, John and Shirley were married in Everly, Iowa, and eventually made their way to Anaheim, where they raised their two children, David and Darcy.

While attending night school at West Coast University, from which he ultimately earned his degree in Electrical Engineering in 1966, John worked as a draftsman at North American Aviation, which would eventually become Rockwell International. He soon moved into a project engineering position at North American Aviation and worked on various aerospace projects until his retirement in 1995, after 33 years of service.

John’s love of sports was a thread which wound throughout his life, and he spent many nights in bowling and softball leagues, as well as playing poker with a group of childhood friends. In his later years, John immersed himself in golf, fantasy baseball and travel with the same tight group of friends.

John was a doting and dedicated caretaker to his wife Shirley, who passed away in 2018 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He is survived by his son Dave (Kristin) and daughter Darcy (Josh); four grandchildren: Zachary, Katie, Court, and Cecily; and many loving cousins, friends, and neighbors. He will be missed.

A memorial will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, July 23rd, at Fairhaven Memorial Park Mortuary in Santa Ana. A reception will be hosted at Dave & Kristi Lewis' home following the service. Details will be provided at the service.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC).