Edward Stanley Lewis II

Edward Stanley Lewis II

December 16, 1939 - January 3, 2024 Morehead City, North Carolina

A memorial service to honor Edwards’s life will be held at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, January 14^th at Glad Tidings Church, officiated by Pastor Tim Marriner. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. For those unable to attend, the service can be viewed through his obituary page on Munden Funeral Home’s website. The service will remain on the Funeral Home website for 90 days.

Edward Stanley Lewis II, 84, of Morehead City, North Carolina, passed away on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, at ECU Health Medical Center. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Brenda Kennedy Lewis of Morehead City, NC, his daughter Gretchen L. Hicks (Robert) of Newport, NC, his son Edward Stanley Lewis III (Cindy) of Beaufort, NC, his grandsons Aaron S. Lewis (Logan) of Davis, NC, Nathaniel J. Lewis (Nanette) of Sumter, SC, Joseph E. Lewis (Erin) of Marshallberg, NC, Wyatt C. Lewis of Beaufort, NC, his sister Jean Martin of Harrison, TN, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Grace Lewis, and his sister, Edith Ipock Harris.

Edward’s childhood home was on Front St. in Beaufort where he grew up on the waterfront. He joined the US Coast Guard Reserves during his last year at Beaufort High School and upon graduation in 1958, he began active duty. He was trained as an Engineman in Groton, Connecticut, and was then assigned to Group Fort Macon and served on US lightship Frying Pan (LV-115), at Cape Lookout Lifeboat Station, and then briefly aboard USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374) based out of Norfolk, VA. Having achieved the rank of Petty Officer Third Class, he was honorably discharged from active duty in 1960 and continued serving in a USCG Reserve unit at Fort Macon in an inactive status until 1962. Following his Coast Guard years, Edward served aboard the USC&GS Explorer (OSS-28), steering the 220 ft ocean survey ship as it conducted scientific research and seafloor mapping across the Atlantic Ocean for the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. His time on the Explorer from 1962-64 brought him to lands near and far across four continents, visiting Portland, Maine; Nova Scotia, Canada; San Juan, Puerto Rico; the Caribbean Sea; the Virgin Islands; Recife, Brazil; the Azores; Brest, France; Dakar, Senegal; and Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Having traveled the world and wishing to return home, Edward resettled in Beaufort, NC, and began a 27-year career as a pneumatic mechanic on jet engines at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point where he was frequently recognized for the superior caliber of his workmanship. After more than 31 years of loyal and devoted service to the US government, Edward retired from civil service in 1993 and started his own business, Lewis Painting Service, where he and his son worked together for many years.

Edward loved the water. He fished in many tournaments with his son and grandsons and achieved a lifelong dream of obtaining his Master Captain’s License in August of 2004. He was a gentle-spirited man who enjoyed sitting on the back porch drinking coffee while watching the birds. As a husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Edward was always there with a loving smile on his face when anyone needed him. He was a role model of how a man should be. He will be greatly missed.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. in Morehead City, N.C.