Mark Robertson Lewis

June 20, 1926 - Nov. 1, 2015

Mark Robertson Lewis, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, died peacefully at the age of 89 on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015, at North Big Horn Hospital.Mark was the fifth and youngest child of Edmund Elroy Lewis and Ellen “Ella” (nee Robertson) Lewis, and was born in Cowley on June 20, 1926. He attended elementary and high school in Cowley. He excelled in basketball, lettering all four years of his high school career. His team won both the district and state championships in 1944. Mark made the all-district andall-state teams as a guard that year. He once said that if he couldn’t play basketball in Heaven, he didn’t wantto go.Mark’s life work was ranching; he ran cattle on Pryor Mountain and sheep in the Big Horn Mountains. He and Charlotte started with one heifer. Despite challenges and some setbacks, including the loss of 90 percent of the sheep in the blizzard of 1955, they built a herd of cattle and a band of sheep. Still, Mark would say his greatest success was his close-knit, hardworking and accomplished family.[caption id="attachment_10552" align="alignright" width="227"] Mark Robertson Lewis[/caption]Mark is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Charlotte Hopkin, whom he married on her 19th birthday and his 25th birthday, June 20, 1951, in the Salt Lake Temple. Also surviving are their five sons: Rex H. (Catherine) Lewis, Max H. (Kary) Lewis, Guy H. (Patricia) Lewis, Neil H. (Lois) Lewis and Scott H. (Melinda) Lewis and one daughter, Ella (David) Rolfs. He and Charlotte are beloved grandparents of 31 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren, with five on the way.Mark was preceded in death by his father and mother, Edmund Elroy Lewis and Ella Robertson Lewis, as well as brothers Elroy (Virginia) Lewis and Glenn (Lenore) Lewis and sisters Veloy (Wayne) Hansen and Elna (Jared) Dickson.Mark was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a two-year church mission in the Western Canadian Mission 1947 to 1949 in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. He taught classes in church his entire adult life. His influence for good in the lives of countless youth is immeasurable.Funeral services were held in Cowley on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. Interment followed in the Cowley Cemetery.