Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

ROCKLAND - Wendell Bliss Lewis, Sr., 96, died Sunday, May 15, 2016, at Pen Bay Medial Center following a period of declining health.
Born in Bath, January 18, 1920, he was the son of Everett C. and Maude B. Bliss Lewis. While growing up in Topsham, Wendell attended local schools and was a 1938 graduate of Brunswick High School.

He first worked at Cabot Manufacturing, Brunswick in the Spinning and Card Room. During that winter he worked at Brunswick Hardware. During World War II, Wendell worked at the South Portland Shipyard, later at Bath Iron Works and ultimately moved to South San Francisco, where he was employed at Hunters Point U.S. Naval Base. In 1945, he returned to Maine and attended Maine Central Railroad Telegraph School in Portland. For more than 35 years, he worked at MCRR in various positions with the last being Agent at the Rockland Station, from which he retired in 1981.

Pursuing his railroad career caused Mr. Lewis to move often with his family. They lived in Brunswick, Topsham, Augusta, Gardiner, Wiscasset, Yarmouth, and Rockland.

Wendell married Marjorie Dutton in Brunswick, February 17, 1946. They raised three children. Marjorie died May 30, 1992. He later married Louise M. Knight at Rockland, May 1, 1993.

Wendell was an active member of First Baptist Church of Rockland, where he served many years as Church Treasurer, and several terms on the Board of Trustees. More recently, he was a member of the Spruce Head Community Church.

For many years, he was a Licensed Ham Radio Operator with the call sign K1RPE.

Other than his parents and first wife Marjorie, Wendell was predeceased by his sisters, Barbara, Dorothy, and Eleanor; a brother, Milford; and a son, Wendell B. Lewis, Jr. in 2009. He is survived by his wife Louise M. Lewis of Rockland; two sons, Daniel E. Lewis and his wife Kathy of St. Petersburg, FL, Kenneth C. Lewis and his wife Sharon of Holden; a daughter-in-law Lorna Lewis of Scarborough; a step-daughter Tamela Barter and family of Newcastle; four grandchildren, Katrina, Dawn, Aaron and Amy; six great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Nicholas, Adam, Hayley, Natalie and Kylee.

Friends and relatives are invited to visit from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M., Monday, May 23, 2016, at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland, where a funeral service will be held at 1:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 24th. The Reverend Russell Bailey will officiate. Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery, Camden.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Cancer Care of Maine, C/O EMHS Foundation, P.O. Box 931, Bangor, ME 04402-0931.