Elsie M. (Hurley) Lewis, 87, a resident of Combine, Texas for 55 years, passed away April 1, 2008.  She was the widow of Hal S. Lewis, former Managing Editor of the Dallas Times Herald who passed away in 2004 at the age of 93.

At her side were her two sons, Bret and Mark, Mark’s wife Janet and their three young adult children, Ben, Daniel and Betsy, as well as her niece, Patrice Pike. She is also survived by her brother Paul, numerous nieces and nephews and many, many friends who considered her part of their family.

Elsie was preceded in death by her husband, Hal Lewis; her parents, Harold M. and Louisa M. (Bruce) Hurley; and her brothers, Harold M. and Bruce W. Hurley.

Elsie was truly the woman behind the man. She grew up in the dust bowl of the 30’s. As a result the family moved around a lot. When she married Hal, she wanted to have a stable home for her family. After seven years of marriage, Hal, Elsie, Bret and one year old Mark moved to a 70 acre farm in Combine outside of Seagoville, 30 miles from Dallas. Hal made the daily commute to the Newspaper. Elsie set about proving that she was indeed from pioneer stock: Helping to build the barn with a handy man, supervising the digging of the five acre lake, helping graft the native pecan trees to become paper shell, helping to harvest the pecans, then setting up a side business, selling them cracked. She was so proud to be descended from Osage Indians. Portraits and Native American sayings were all over the house.

Her creative drive was limitless. She fell in love with dried weed arrangements, the raw materials in East Texas being in abundance. She collected and sold antiques. But mostly touching so many people with her love and joy that many young women referred to her as their second mother. Special days like birthdays, Thanksgiving, were major productions. To give to her family and others the home and hearth she had not been able to experience. The grief we feel in losing her is balanced by the immense gratitude of the gift she had been and will always be for us.

Funeral services held at Roselawn Funeral Home, Interment at Roselawn Cemetery in Seagoville,TX where her mother, father and husband are also interred.

Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX -   April 3, 2008