Today, we gather to celebrate the life of my husband, Mark Llewellyn Lewis. Looking around I can see friends representing all the different aspects of his life – school, uni, church, neighbours, work and family. Thank you each of you for coming. It’s a bit like our wedding 32 years ago – except this time I get to do the talking.
Born in Leeds in 1969 to Ken and Vera, his earliest memories were of his family’s most intrepid adventure. At the age of two, he moved to Zambia where his dad took up a professorship at the University of Lusaka. To reach their destination, they boarded the Ocean Liner ‘RMS Pendennis Castle’ with an ancient Ford Zephyr filled to the brim with all their possessions and sailed to Cape Town, driving up through southern Africa, where he and his older brother Phil then spent the next 3 years of childhood. Time that included growing up surrounded by an interesting culture, going on safaris and contracting Hepatitis A from nursery. All of these experiences would stay with Mark all his life.
Returning to the UK, the family settled in Swansea briefly before making their home in Northfield, Birmingham. It was there that he attended Green Meadow primary school and secondary school Shenley Court before moving on to King Edward’s Sixth Form. He was an active member of St David’s Cubs and Scouts in Northfield and thus was always prepared in the art of keeping a reluctant fire alight. During his later teens he got a holiday job at a guest house on the Isle of Wight, which made a big impression on him – it also meant he was good at washing up.
His love of science led him to study Chemistry at Lincoln College, Oxford. He immersed himself in university life, doing well not only academically but also on the athletics field and football pitch. At the end of his first and second year he spent the long vacation as a Youth Counsellor with Camp America. He was a member of the Christian Union and a University Rep for the Oxford-Kilburn Club Youth Group. This was also where our story began – as two CU reps who bought a car together to transport fellow students to north-west London on a Friday night in order to help run the weekly under 11s kids club. As we now owned a car together, the next logical step was to enter into a more permanent partnership. So, we got married at Sidcup Baptist Church on 15th August 1992, on the inaugural day of the Premier League. Mark’s football team was Aston Villa – the greatest team in England, if not the world – and Saturday night Match of the Day has always been a cherished constant in our lives.
The next steps in Mark’s education were a PhD in Manchester, followed by a post-doctoral position in Göttingen, Germany. His career then brought us to Canterbury, where he worked first as a medicinal chemist and then in the drug metabolism department for Pfizer. He made a meaningful contribution to the research there in the fields of urology, and in particular, prostate conditions.
We moved to Ersham Road, Canterbury in 1998 and in 2000 our eldest child, Juliet, came along, followed by Audrey in 2002 and Cal in 2005. We enjoyed family holidays in Norfolk with buckets and spades and lots of dad’s sand constructions.
In 2008, when global economics shifted Pfizer’s central research focus away from Sandwich in Kent, Mark embraced change with resilience, exploring a career switch to photography for a year. We said a sad goodbye to many close friends, as former Pfizerites moved abroad or changed pharmaceutical company. During this time, he was treasurer for St Peters primary school PTFA in Canterbury and a home group leader at Barton Church.
Mark then studied for a 5th degree at the University of West England to retrain in flood management for the Environment Agency and ended up in the Hydrology and Telemetry department for the next 10 years. He loved the technical aspects of the job, as well as being able to work outside maintaining rain gauges, ground water sites and other technology with a great team of colleagues in the EA.
He took time away from work to be a volunteer Games Maker for the 2012 Olympics, relishing the joy and camaraderie of that once-in-a-lifetime experience. He also had a heart for the less fortunate and it about this time we began supporting the local charity Porchlight.
In 2019 we had a family trip of a lifetime to the US, visiting several National Parks and piloting a houseboat round Lake Powell. Mark also went on various holidays with his dad and brother to the Canary Islands, which he really enjoyed – a bit of peace and quiet away from the busyness of family life.
Over a 20-year period, Mark battled low energy following glandular fever back in 2002. This stole away being able to participate in sports, which he found frustrating as he really enjoyed playing Monday night football with the Barton crew. To maximise energy, he went part-time for a short period only 24 months back and volunteered for the Red Cross delivering wheelchairs and other equipment. It is particularly poignant to me to have to cancel the custom-made electric wheelchair, which was due to arrive the week after he died.
A year ago, he was diagnosed with an unspecified and eventually aggressive form of Muscular Dystrophy, which began to take its toll on his body. He faced his health challenges with courage and we were determined to fill his last year with as much travel as we could fit in around hospital visits. We saw U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, did cruises round the Caribbean, Norway and the UK, took in the Northern Lights and did a road trip the length of the UK. We really packed it in until his muscles called it a day and weight loss led to extreme frailty and tiredness. We are so grateful that he was able to pass away peacefully at home with me beside him.
All in all, although they were over too soon, Mark had a fab 55 years. We often recounted to each other how lovely it was to have got to know so many great people over our life together. So thank you, dear family and friends for joining with us today and online. Thank you particularly to those of you who have changed Christmas plans to be here – it is much appreciated. You are all warmly welcome to join us at the Kent and Canterbury Club where we can remember him some more. We have printed out copies of Mark’s photos from this past year and after you’ve had some sandwiches, please take one home with you to remember him by.
So dear husband, thank you for those precious years of our lives that we shared together and the joy, laughter and love you brought into my life. I take comfort knowing you are at peace. Just before you go – you were right, and Chris McCausland did win Strictly. Also, Villa beat City 2-1 at the weekend and Eric can fill you in about the Formula one sometime. So over and out for now babe and I’ll see you on the other side.
Elsa Lewis (wife)
