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Family meant most to committed father
From the Gazette & Herald, first published Thursday 2nd Sep 2004.
GAZETTE & HERALD: CHIPPENHAM'S St Andrew's Church was packed on Friday as the family and friends of father-of-one Chris Lewis, gathered to celebrate his life.
Motorway worker Mr Lewis, 38, of Marshfield Road, Chippenham, was killed when a lorry trailer crashed through roadworks near Enfield, in Middlesex, in the early hours of August 18.
The trailer collided with a van that Mr Lewis had been standing alongside. But although the caring family man was able to shove a work colleague to safety, he himself received fatal injuries in the collision.
Around 600 mourners filled the seats and aisles of St Andrew's to watch Mr Lewis's coffin carried in by some of his friends.
Photographs of the family man were displayed in the church and mourners not already sporting their own floral buttonholes were encouraged to choose from a box of blooms from Mr Lewis's father's garden.
Proud parents to a son Lawrence, who celebrated his first birthday last month, Mr Lewis and his fiancée Kim Lord, 27, had been planning to marry at the end of this year and were in the process of moving to a bigger house in Park Lane, with a garden for their son to play in.
During the funeral, Mr Lewis's sister Nicola read an open letter to him, paying tribute to his kindness, his wicked sense of fun and his adoration for his son.
She also told how Mr Lewis, aged 16, had visited her in Kenya, in her university gap year and how he had been a talented chef, who loved to cook for his friends and family.
Adding that his job working on the motorway had been dangerous, she said he knew of the risks, but took great pride in working to make the roads safer for others.
Mr Lewis had been carrying out motorway work for Chippenham-based firm CE Fencing for six years before he lost his life.
The lorry driver involved in the accident failed to stop at the scene, but last week, Chadwell Heath traffic police revealed a man had been arrested and questioned in connection with the collision. He has now been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
An inquest has also been opened into Mr Lewis's death and adjourned to a later date.
Funeral tributes were also read by two of Mr Lewis's closest friends, Alan Judge and John Scott, who gave heartfelt and sometimes amusing accounts of their `travelling' friend.
Mr Judge said the ex-Sheldon pupil travelled the world before finding fulfilment with his fiancée and baby son.
Mr Scott said he admired his friend's kindness and compassion for others and led the congregation in three cheers.
In his address, the Reverend Simon Tatton Brown focused on Mr Lewis's close relationship with his parents, Mike, 67, and Margaret 61, of Stanley Lane, Chippenham, and of his devotion to his family.
The funeral was followed by a burial at Chippenham's London Road cemetery, while a celebration of his life was held at his local, the Old Road Tavern later on Friday afternoon.
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