After dealing for 11 years with Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Donald Theodore “Ted” Lewers died Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 at the age of 84. He was a dynamic person felled by a disease that robs its victims of cognitive ability to cope with everyday tasks, and his or her families of a fully communicative loved one.
In my personal experience, Alzheimer’s and dementia draw a curtain around a person whom you used to know and now have to be satisfied with a few peeks into the personality that once existed.
I didn’t know Ted Lewers well. I knew he was a widely respected internist. I knew he was a local doctor who rose to become chairman of the board of the American Medical Association. He was active in community activities, including the Waterfowl Festival and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
He nominated me to the CBMM board in 2006. I was forever appreciative.
Ted Lewers struck me as someone who did nothing by halves. He was a doer. Leadership responsibilities seemed to flow naturally to him; he sought, not avoided them.
In a small community, a friend’s medical woes become well-known. When I last saw him some years ago, he could function to some extent at social occasions. I could still sense his vibrancy and vitality. He then appeared no more, understandably.
To his wife Pat and children, I express my sympathy for the loss of a husband, father and grandfather, as well as a medical doctor, a spokesman for the medical profession and a community leader.
Ted Lewers made his mark on our community. It’s better because of him.
Jim Franke says
I came to Easton in 1976 and needed a primary care doctor. I had three friends who were doctors at Hopkins. Independently, they said Dr Lewers was the best. He was.