Alyson Mack Lewis

Alyson Mack Lewis November 20, 1933 - June 11, 2020 San Diego We will remember Mack for his intelligence, his razor-edged sense of humor, his keen powers of observation, and his broad interests. He was a voracious reader whose wide-ranging tastes led him to enjoy words in all their forms, from crossword puzzles to witty repartee. Mack loved fine food and was an accomplished cook with an eclectic repertoire. An expert photographer, he leaves numerous slides and photographs, documenting a life joyfully lived. Alyson Mack Lewis was born in the small farming community of Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, Canada, the second of two sons in a family of modest means. Late in her life, his mother, Maggie, dictated her oral history, and among her stories was that of his conception: Mack's father, George, was the captain of his curling team, and prior to a week-long bonspiel, he asked her what she would give him if he won. Her answer on the tape was that she had only one gift to give. George's team won every game that winter week, and in November Mack was born.Mack graduated from Saskatoon Tech Collegiate in Saskatchewan and was accepted to the University of Saskatchewan, but instead of attending, he moved to Regina and then to Calgary. There, in 1953 he met and married Lois Carter. In 1955 he was accepted to the University of Idaho Architecture program, and Lois became pregnant with their first child, Scott, pausing Mack's university goal. A 1957 driving trip to British Columbia led the couple to dream of living there. To finance the move, Mack took a job as a draftsman in the Northwest Territories. He told many stories of how much he loved it there, of the friends he made, and the adventures he had. Mack and Lois's second child, Nancy, was born in Fort Smith, NWT, in 1960. In 1961 they moved to British Columbia where their third child, Gavin, was born in Victoria in 1962.In Victoria, Mack went to work as a draftsman for the Department of Public Works, eventually becoming a project manager. Among his accomplishments was management of the restoration of the Parliament Buildings in Victoria. In his spare time, he built and sailed four sailboats and became a registered architect after completing the RAIC Architecture Syllabus program at UBC. Among the highlights of that program were two winter study abroad programs. Accompanied by his second wife, Kathleen Farley, he traveled to Venice in 1969 as a student, and then to Athens in 1970 as a teaching assistant. These trips fueled Mack's life-long enthusiasm for travel. However, Mack maintained that his greatest accomplishment was building his fourth boat, a 56-foot, 29-ton wood ketch, appropriately named A Fine Madness, constructed over eight years and launched in 1980. In 1984 Mack and his third wife, Kate Herring, moved from Victoria, B.C. to San Diego where he worked for BSHA and then for The Steele Group before he and Kate started a construction project management consulting firm in 1989. Mack is survived by his son, Scott Carter Lewis (Vancouver), his daughter Nancy Ann Lewis (Toronto), his grandson Phelan Henry Lewis (Victoria), and his wife of 40 years, Kate. We miss him.