A candlelight memorial Friday for Ethel Lewis drew a large gathering at the Buxton farm where she and her husband, Wilmot “Bill” Lewis, lived since marrying in 1947.
Ethel Lewis died on Dec. 4, 2006, after being struck by a vehicle at 6 a.m. in front of the farm. An estimated 200 people, including family members, friends, neighbors and town officials, lit candles and they stretched out along Long Plains Road. Several candles were placed at the foot of a roadside cross bearing her name.
“It made me feel good,” said Wendy Lewis about the turnout in remembrance of her mother.
Most of those present had a story to share about Ethel Lewis. Next-door neighbor Nancy Waterman said Lewis had ran to their home a week before her death with news that a car had hit a deer.
“She loved the outdoors,” Waterman said. “I couldn’t ask for better neighbors.”
Lewis was widely known as the “glad lady.” She raised as many as 10,000 gladiolas a year in her garden and sold them roadside.
Cindy Wiese, mother of the missing Buxton teenager Coreen Wiese, attended the Lewis memorial to offer support to the Lewis family. Wiese hadn’t known Lewis but recalled seeing the flowers she raised. “I admired her,” Wiese said. ” I wished I had her energy.”
Ethel Lewis’ daughter-in-law, Zee Lewis of Stratham, N.H., recalled the good times they shared. Ethel Lewis had traveled to England in 1990 to attend the wedding of her son, Alden, to Zee Lewis. She said her mother-in-law saw a changing of the guard at a palace and the queen’s horses. “We did a lot of things together,” Zee Lewis said.
The Rev. David Borger of the Buxton Center Baptist Church spoke at the memorial and Bill Lewis thanked the gathering.
“We love you, Bill, God bless you, Bill,” rang out from those surrounding him.
(AJ Ethel Lewis Vigil4605.JPG) – Don and Ginny Warren of Buxton light their candles soon after arriving at last Friday’s vigil in honor of Ethel Lewis. 
(AJ Ethel Lewis Vigil4755.JPG) – Elaine Caron, a friend of the Lewis family from Poland Spring, adds her candle to the roadside memorial to Ethel Lewis. 
Remembering Buxton’s ‘glad lady’
AJ Ethel Lewis Vigil4643.JPG Perhaps a couple of hundred people attended the candlelight vigil for Ethel Lewis. 
AJ Ethel Lewis Vigil4676.JPG Family, friends and neighbors line up in front of the Lewis homestead along the stretch of Long Plains Road where Ethel died.
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