the Obituary of Nettie Catherine Lewis

Nettie Catherine Lewis passed away in Mt. Shasta, California on July 16th, 2024, at 71 years of age. She was born in Tulare, California on September 16th, 1952, to Della and George Lewis, Dunsmuir residents who were working as seasonal migrant farmers at the time. Nettie was the youngest of three daughters. Shortly after Nettie’s birth, the family returned to Dunsmuir and George scraped together a living, playing honky tonk music in local taverns and bars. In 1954, George was killed by a drunk driver, and Della remarried a logger, moving the family to a logging camp in McCloud where Nettie spent her early childhood.

Nettie was whip-smart and loved school; she attended McCloud Elementary, Castle Rock Elementary, and Dunsmuir High School. After graduating from Dunsmuir High in 1970, Nettie was the first in her family to attend college; she studied education at Chico State and then University of California, Santa Barbara. She got a job at a weapons factory in Santa Barbara, where she met the future father of her daughter. Some of Nettie’s happiest memories were spent in Santa Barbara, walking on the beach and driving her yellow VW bug through the hills. In 1982 Nettie moved back to Dunsmuir to live with her mother and step-father, Monk Simmons, raising her daughter, Catherine, with their support. Nettie worked as a house cleaner and as a teacher’s aid at Dunsmuir Elementary.