| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 9 Apr 2005.
Joshua Dean Lewis
December 13, 1988 - April 09, 2005
Resided In: Sevierville Tennessee
Visitation: April 12, 2005
Service: April 13, 2005
Cemetery: Cummings Chapel Cemetery
Joshua Dean Lewis, “Forever Sweet Sixteen,” passed away Saturday, April 9, 2005.
He was preceded in death by his great-great-grandmother Leota B. Holt ; uncle Butch W. Phillips; great-grandfathers Jim Miller and Floyd Mayfield.
Survivors:
Mother: Dorothy Phillips
Father: Marty Miller
Stepfather: Barry Phillips
Sister: Whitney Phillips
Grandparents: Jeanette Brooks, Charles Brooks, Trula Phillips and Joe Phillips, Fred and Peggy Miller
Great-grandparents: Cliff and Laura Lowe, Georgia Miller, Ester Mayfield
Special aunts and uncles: Larry and Charlotte Baker, Charles Brooks Jr., Michael Miller, Cindy Giles, Caroline Hamilton, Barbara Eledge
Fiancée: Leann Beverly
Special “Granny”: Diane Campbell
Many cousins and special friends
Funeral service 2:30 Wednesday in the West Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Pastor Brent Freeman officiating. Interment will follow in Cummings Chapel Cemetery. The family will receive friends 5-8 PM Tuesday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Pathways Community Church, Building Project, P.O. Box 1258, Kodak, TN, 37764. (www.atchleyfuneralhome.com)
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 13 Apr 2005.
Grieving mom to teens: Wear your seatbelt
By: CANDICE GRIMM, Staff Writer April 13, 2005
Lewis
The mother of a 16-year-old honors class student who died in a traffic accident over the weekend hopes other teenagers will learn from her own son's tragic mistake.
"My advice to these young kids is to always wear your seatbelt and drive the speed limit," Dorothy Phillips, mother of Joshua Dean "Josh" Lewis, said Monday as she and her family tried to cope with the loss. "I want to encourage kids in the audience at my son's funeral to always obey the speed limit, be very careful and watchful and they will have a future ahead of them."
Josh died when he was ejected from his vehicle after losing control on a curve apparently due to excessive speed. His vehicle flipped upside down into a creek.
Phillips' husband Barry, who said he was stepfather to Josh for 15 of his 16 years, also had a message for parents.
"If you're the parent of a kid 16 or 40, take them in your arms and hold them while you can and tell them you love them, because nobody knows what tomorrow is going to bring you," he said.
Agreeing with her husband, Phillips added that though her son said he was too big to do so, the two of them never failed to hug and kiss each other goodbye and say, "I love you."
"Those are precious moments I've got to hold on to," she said. "I want parents to know I've got no regrets because he knew I loved him."
Josh was an honors class student at Sevier County High.
"To me he will be forever sweet 16 - it's like a part of me has died with him," Dorothy Phillips said.
Teachers and students at Sevier County High remembered Josh as someone who had a great sense of humor, respected his teachers and loved sports.
"He was well-liked by other students," said Mike Hodges, Josh's honors English teacher. Josh "had a good sense of humor that was nice to have in the classroom and he was always respectful of me as his teacher and I appreciated that.
"One student commented that it made them so sad to think of all the things that Josh now would not experience," Hodges said. "One of the boys on the football team said, 'You know we would rough-house like brothers, but we were a team, and now we're missing a member of our team.'"
Steve Brewer, sophomore football coach, said Josh, like a lot of sophomores on the team, played mostly junior varsity but was "developing real well - he was getting to the point where he was going to be able to contribute; it's certainly a loss for our football team."
Brewer went on to say, "The thing I remember about Josh is that he was fearless. He didn't shy away from contact or from challenges. He had a good football personality."
Tabatha Ogle, a freshman geography teacher and a member of a three-teacher team that taught Josh in freshmen academy, said, "We've struggled today as a teaching team. He was one of those kids you want to adopt - he was funny and always played little pranks on us. He was one of those students I don't think I'll ever forget."
Ogle characterized Josh as "a wonderful young man" and added, "It's such a heartbreaking thing to see all our students who knew him struggle; his loss has impacted all the students, even those that didn't know him.
"He loved life so much, was always so excited to be at school and with his friends. He really impacted my life as a teacher because he was one of those fun kind of kids, so smart. He was wonderful and as a team, we felt we needed to tell people how special he was. We're going to miss him terribly."
Dorothy Phillips thanked the rescue and fire departments and Lifestar personnel, and especially to an unknown individual "who held his head out of the water until help arrived because they were afraid to move him."
* cgrimm@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 6 Jun 2007.
Family shocked, upset by vandalized grave
By: JEFF FARRELL, Staff Writer
June 06, 2007
SEVIERVILLE - Dorothy Phillips wants to know who overturned her son's gravestone on Memorial Day.
She's offering a reward to any person who can provide information leading to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for vandalizing the gravesite of her son, who died in a wreck two years ago.
Josh Lewis was 16 when he wrecked his car while driving on Sims Road. Had he lived, he would likely have graduated this year from Sevier County High School, where he was an honors student. "We had his graduation decorations up on the headstone," Phillips said.
Sometime Monday night, vandals apparently tipped over the headstone in Cummings Chapel Cemetery, leaving it facedown over Josh's gave, and also damaged a bench the family had placed at the site, she said.
"On the base it said 'Only God can judge me,'" Phillips said. "I hope that echoes through their mind."
Phillips said she doesn't think whoever committed the crime targeted her son specifically. Still, she said, she'd like to know why anyone would desecrate a grave.
"They didn't really hurt (Josh)," they said. "They did a lot more damage to the family."
Sevierville Police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information on the case should call Phillips at 428-0258 or 803-6993.
* jfarrell@themountainpress.com
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