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Darrell Lewis '99 |
Lewis came to Wittenberg from Washington Ethical High School in Washington, D.C., where he was a basketball team captain and an accomplished track and field athlete. At Wittenberg, he was a member of Concerned Black Students, Union Board and the American International Association, participated in the student-run radio station, WUSO 89.1-FM, and volunteered at the Springfield YMCA. He attended both after earning scholarships that allowed him to escape "one of Southeast Washington's toughest neighborhoods" that was "known for drugs and violence," also according to the Washington Post article.
Lewis was a member of Wittenberg's track and field team. He earned a varsity letter in 1998 after running a leg of the second-place distance medley relay at the 1998 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships.
He graduated from Wittenberg with a bachelor of arts in the self-designed field of East Asian Management, and he learned Japanese and Chinese while studying at the university. Shortly after graduation, he joined the Army as an officer, rising to captain while serving in Georgia, Washington state and South Korea.
In the Army Reserve, Lewis served on a transition team preparing other U.S. soldiers, airmen or sailors to train their Afghan counterparts, according to officials at Fort Riley in Kansas. He entered the Army Reserve in 2002, becoming an air defense artillery officer with the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. His deployment to Afghanistan began in January 2007 and was his first since entering the reserve.
Lewis is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and infant son, Rashawn, and a 7-year-old daughter, Taylor. Family members told the Washington Post he will be buried next to his grandfather and great-uncle at Arlington National Cemetery on July 11.
Written By: John Strawn and Ryan Maurer
093-07
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