Another great Resister Passes On

[kara speltz]

Most everyone on this forum is too young to remember much about the Catonsville 9 Draft Board action 40 years ago. I was blessed to be friends with the 9, living with 5 of them in D.C. Over the years, several of the nine have died. First David Darst, then Mary Moylan, and Phil Berrigan who died several years ago.

This week we lost Tom Lewis an amazing artist and even more amazing and committed nonviolent peacemaker. Tom not only took part in the draft board raid in Catonsville, but was awaiting sentencing on a previous draft board action in Baltimore. He participated in numerous civil disobedience actions and well as creating spectacular artwork in support of the movement. It is a great loss to lose such a man. I'm posting below the brief obituary and ask all of you to keep his family and friends in your prayers. Kara

On April 4, 2008, the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Pahl Lewis died of natural causes at his home in Worcester, Massachusetts. His commitment to justice and peace flowed out of his love and art and began with civil rights, continued with opposition to the Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, and the current US War in Iraq. He was arrested many times for nonviolent civil disobedience, serving more than 4 years of his life in jail for his acts of conscience, including a multi-year sentence for his part in the burning of draft files in Catonsville, Maryland in 1968. Tom was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1940.

[BenL]

Kara,

Tom lived in Worcester MA, where I work. Here's the tribute that ran in the local paper, complete with a 2004 photograph:

http://www.telegram.com/article/20080406/NEWS/804060602

Sunday, April 6, 2008
Lewis led life of activism and creativity
By Amanda Francoeur SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

WORCESTER— Local activist and artist Thomas P. Lewis died Friday after a life that combined creativity and protests.

“Tom epitomized fidelity,” friend and fellow activist Claire Schaeffer-Duffy said yesterday. “As a young man, he saw the truth of the evil of war and stayed with that truth all his life, even when it cost him to practice it.”

Mr. Lewis, 68, died Friday in his Austin Street home. Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, also a longtime friend, said he died of natural causes.


Mr. Lewis leaves his daughter, Nora M. Borbely-Lewis, his mother, Pauline, his brothers, Donald and John, and his sister, Paula A. Scheye. He was formerly married to Andrea E. Borbely-Lewis.

“Tom did everything possible to share his love with us, his family, but he belonged to a much wider family community,” said Donald, who lives in Hampstead, Md.

[Vanessa White]

That is a beautiful testament to this man; he did so much in his life that was meaningful, stood by his principles, from the beginning of his journey of activism. Kara, I will pray for his family, and am sorry for the loss that you may be feeling on a personal level.