Mary Elizabeth Lewis

Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Lewis, aged 80, peacefully passed away on Sunday, June 23, at her home in St. Petersburg, Florida, with family by her side. She succumbed to complications from multiple myeloma.

Born on April 29, 1944, in Portland, Oregon, Mary Beth was the beloved daughter of Mabel Atwood and Charles Orville Lewis, and stepdaughter of Victor Atwood. She is survived by her devoted husband, Charles Lewis; her daughters, Sarah Lewis and Grace Lewis; her son-in-law, Rients De Jager; her daughter-in-law, Melanie Moore; her cherished grandchildren, Max, Zoe, Noah, and Sarah; and her brother-in-law, Fred Lewis. She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepfather, and her sister-in-law, Carolyn Lewis.

Mary Beth attended Newton, Iowa, High School where she was active as a champion debater. She graduated as valedictorian of her class and furthered her education at Swarthmore College with a National Merit Scholarship. At Swarthmore, she met her future husband, Charlie, as they shared a college mailbox due to having the same last name. They married on the day of her graduation, June 6, 1966. Two years later, their first daughter, Sarah, was born in New Hampshire, where Mary Beth had begun her graduate studies in Art History.

In 1970, the family moved to Champaign, Illinois, where Mary Beth enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Illinois and earned her Master's degree in Art History. She also published a research article on the Medici Chapel with the historian Richard Trexler.

Their second daughter, Grace, was born in the Netherlands in 1978, where the family lived from 1978 to 1986. During their time in the Netherlands, Mary Beth began work on an extensive research project on Rembrandt, meticulously studying the seventeenth century political history of the Netherlands and connecting it to the subject of an early Rembrandt history painting.

In 1986, the family returned to the United States and settled in Princeton, New Jersey. Mary Beth first worked as a reporter for two local newspapers. She became an active member of the Princeton Research Forum, a group of independent scholars, and later served as its President. Mary Beth also worked at the Center of Theological Inquiry, where she greatly enjoyed interacting with visiting religious scholars, and at the Institute for Advanced Study, working with resident art historians.

Mary Beth was known for her kindness and great sense of humor. She was deeply personable and an independent thinker who placed great importance on family and cherished her role within it. She recently celebrated her 58th wedding anniversary while a patient at the Moffitt Cancer Center. When the nurses there asked her the secret of such a long marriage, she answered them with a single word: "Love!"

Mary Beth's favorite activities included playing the piano (especially pieces by Bach and Mozart), singing in church and secular choirs, attending classical music concerts, and doing research on the genealogy of her maternal grandmother, whose family came from Norway. She was a voracious reader, both for her research and for pleasure. She loved watching movies. Her favorites were the Godfather films. She was a great sports fan, especially tennis and baseball. She had a way of finding the joy in life's little moments, from a well-made cup of coffee in the morning to a beautiful sunset at the beach, or just petting a cat in her lap.

Mary Beth was a deeply religious person. She grew up in the Lutheran Church in Newton, Iowa, and at her death Mary Beth was a devoted member of The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in St. Petersburg, Florida.

A funeral service will be held at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter on July 13 at 11 AM to honor her memory. There is also a livestream link for the service:

https://boxcast.tv/view/funeral-for-mary-beth-lewis-eocemlz5zsorkizoesnm

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Planned Parenthood, an organization that was significant to Mary Beth.