Lewis Emmett Bartlett
Lewis Bartlett was born in Machias, NY…on May 22. 1907, one of six children of Olive & Emmett Bartlett. He first met Ellie while helping her father on their farm in Colden. He was 20 and she was just a lass of 10, she thought he was wonderful ~ of course. He told her he’d wait for her and so he did. They were married when she was 21 and he 31 years young. They built a loving and caring family together.
Lewis served in the Army National Guard for many years earning his security clearance and sharpshooter classification. He was chosen to be in the Personal Security Detail for Franklin D. Roosevelt when he visited Buffalo.
He was the head electrician at DuPont in Niagara Falls, NY for many years. When he retired he and Ellie worked their evergreen plantation for 10 years or so then sold their farm and put their minds and hearts into traveling and doing all of those fun things. They resettled and build a new home in Ruskin, Florida where they cultivated new and lasting friendships and promised they’d never shovel snow again! He loved to garden, fish and hunt and always felt satisfied after filling our large freezer with the labors of his hands knowing that our winters would be long and cold but the food never ran out. He was a superior provider.
He worked so very hard at everything he endeavored to do, there was no such thing as ‘can’t’. If he didn’t have the part he needed to fix something, he made the part, everything was possible. He went to work even if he didn’t feel well, he’d say, ‘only sick people stay home’ and he didn’t consider having a cold or the flu being sick!
He truly loved life, laughter and playing a good joke on someone. He wasn’t shy about slipping an ice cube down the back of your shirt or short sheeting a bed, it was all fair game. He would make you smile even though you wanted to cry, he listened with an old heart and loved my mother and all children so dearly. When he passed away my mother said that she had lost her best friend in this entire world, her love and companion.
So it is that now after these many years apart Lewis & Eleanor are reunited for eternity ~ they loved each other well and true. They are not forgotten, their loving smiles and gentle faces will be remembered as long as life and memory last, no one can fill their vacant place.