Ingra Ann Lewis

August 17, 1944 - June 21, 2017

INGRA ANN LEWIS August 17, 1944 – June 21, 2017 Ingra Ann Lewis (72) of Hesperia, California passed away on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at Keck Medical Center of USC in Los Angeles, California. Ingra was born at Casita Hospital in Indio, California, on Thursday, August 17, 1944, to Edwinna Dawn and Lawrence “Larry” Gilbert King of Midland, California. A lovely vivacious California girl, Ingra was spirited, passionate, jovial, adventurous, kind, enthusiastic, and compassionate. She was an energetic and fun-loving child with boundless curiosity and sparkling eyes who reveled in playing outdoors and possessed great love for animals. In her teens, she enjoyed the company of her many friends while attending dances and sleepovers, cruzin’, going to the beach, or just sipping Coca-Cola at the local soda shop. Hers was an era of innocence and prosperity in America. Ingra was creative, bright, competitive, and always strived for perfection. While in grammar school, she played first-chair violin and medaled in a state competition with the school orchestra for their performance of Flight of the Bumble Bee; it was an achievement she was always proud of. During this same period, her parents divorced forcing her mother to take a job outside the home. In response, twelve-year-old Ingra taught herself to cook so her mother wouldn’t have to after a long day at work. Cooking was a skill she continued to hone throughout her lifetime. In spite of their humble means, Ingra found a way to remain the best dressed girl in school. At a young age, she became an accomplished seamstress who bought fabric and patterns with her babysitting money crafting dresses for every day as well as special occasions. During the summer of 1959 (just shy of her 15th birthday), Ingra was spending time with a girlfriend in Crestline when she met “the cutest boy” who she later married. She held a special place in her heart for her friends and the shared experiences from that very special time in her life. Ingra spoke fondly of her time in high school and would recant tales of sleepover mischief with a twinkle in her eyes. Home economics class was one of her favorite classes, and it showed in the beautiful clothes, food, and desserts she created for her assignments. Much to the disappointment of her boyfriend, her teacher would take Ingra’s completed dessert assignments to the teacher’s lounge. Ingra was intelligent, maintained high grades, and graduated with honors from San Bernardino High School in 1962. Post-graduation, Ingra shared an apartment with a friend and began her life as an independent young woman performing billing and payment processing for Richman Corporation in Highland. Meanwhile, her now-fiancé, Alan, was dragging his feet on the wedding. However, when he saw a strange car at Ingra’s apartment, he sent his little brother, Stan, to investigate. When Ingra spied Stan trying to peer into the apartment through the screen door, she invited him in. He declined the invitation and reported back to Alan that there was another guy in the apartment who, unbeknownst to Alan, was her roommate’s boyfriend. With that, Alan whisked Ingra off to Las Vegas, and the two were married at the Little White Chapel on December 19, 1964. Throughout their marriage, Ingra would look up at Alan and say “the best thing I ever did was marry you.” The newlyweds settled in San Bernardino where they raised three children. Since they were just starting out, Ingra and Alan had minimal resources. However, with her incredible skill set, every meal was gourmet, and every garment was designer. Ingra was an amazing homemaker and was constantly cooking and caring for her family or anyone else who needed company, a place to sit, and a meal to eat. In 1978, the Lewis family moved to Bullhead City, Arizona, for four years before moving back to their same house in San Bernardino. During their time in Arizona, Ingra insisted they buy a boat, because there wasn’t much else to do in that tiny little town except boat on the Colorado River or Lake Mojave. She spent many long weekends on the lake with her family boating, fishing, and floating around the shallows in her favorite little rubber boat. During the 1970’s and 80’s, when women headed to jobs outside the home, Ingra stayed home supporting, nurturing, and caring for her family and, eventually, became the neighborhood mom to any child who needed her. She set aside her needs and wants so her children and grandchildren could have the best of everything; they did. Ingra tirelessly chauffeured her children and grandchildren to sporting events, dance and skating lessons, and competitions where she was always there to cheer them on or lend a hand. She was revered for her creative designs and quality of work in the numerous exquisite costumes she produced for dance, skating, and parties. Often, she would sit at practices sewing thousands of seed beads and sequins onto a costume. Once her nest was empty, Ingra decided to go to work for a temporary agency doing short-term clerical work for various companies. Ingra enjoyed social interactions, so when she was stationed in out-of-the-way places, she would put a candy dish on her desk as an invitation for co-workers to come visit. The employers would, inevitably, recognize her hard work, dedication, and efficiency and offer her a permanent position. However, each time Ingra would decline politely, since she preferred a regular change of scenery. During her new-found freedom and independence in the workforce, she and Alan took a personality test for fun. The test answers resulted in their classification as a shape representing their personality type. Alan’s test result was “square” which indicated he was a details, data, and systems person. Conversely, Ingra’s test result was “squiggly” which she openly celebrated, because squiggly people are considered creative with lots of energy and enthusiasm. They like to try new ways and different things, are easily bored, flexible, spontaneous, and prefer less structured environments. Thus, “I’m a squiggly, not a square” became her motto…and rightfully so. After her retirement from the workforce, Ingra was directly involved in the raising of her grandchildren whom she adored and delighted in. Her grandsons, Alexander and Shelby were in her care before and after school as well as anytime they wanted to be with her (which was often). She was their room mother who provided snacks for parties, food for teacher’s events, decorations for Christmas pageants, and many other events. Ingra went to as many of her grandchildren’s events as she could manage including sports, dance, choir, orchestra, and rodeo; you name it, she was there to delight in the achievements of her precious grandchildren. Ingra was a diverse individual who pursued many interests including cooking, gardening, reading, nature, crafting, sewing, watching professional bull riding, photography, fast cars, roller coasters, and quilting. For Ingra, cooking was not just for feeding her family, but a form of creative expression. She consistently pursued old family, and international recipes. She found great joy at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park watching the animals and participating in photography classes with her husband and daughter. Ingra enthusiastically watched professional bull riders live and televised rooting for her favorite rider or bull. She even knew the names of all the bulls and the riders. Ingra found it very satisfying to garden, feel the soil on her hands, and watching her vegetables, fruit and flowers grow. Quilting was a favorite creative outlet for Ingra, and she designed many quilts for friends and family that will continue to be cherished by generations to come. She will be remembered fondly for her adventurous spirit, quick sense of humor, compassion, inquisitive nature, passion for helping others, and the love she expressed to her friends and family. Survivors include her; husband, Alan Lewis of Hesperia; son, Kevin (Carol) Lewis; daughters Heather (David) Kurowski of Hesperia and Marni (Rich) Berger of Spring Valley Lake; grandsons James King of Riverside, Alexander Mc Alpine, and Shelby Kurowski both of Hesperia; granddaughters, Allison Lewis of Colorado Springs, CO, and Lauren Lewis of Laramie, WY; mother, Edwinna Alsip of Hesperia; sister, Linda Knudsen of Simpsonville, SC, sister and brother-in-law Erelyne “Lynn” and Gary Marks of Laguna Niguel; sister-in-law, Helen Lewis of Apple Valley; and numerous nephews, nieces, great nephews, and great nieces. Ingra was preceded in death by her; father, Lawrence “Larry” King of Altus, AR (1987); father-in-law, Oliver Lewis of Laguna Niguel (2002); brother-in-law, Jerry Knudsen of Buffalo Grove, IL; mother-in-law, Helen Lewis of Laguna Niguel (2008); step-mother, Vicki King of Madera, CA (2008); brother-in-law, Stanley “Stan” Lewis of Apple Valley (2008) and step-father, Edward Alsip of Yucca Valley (2010). Memorial service will be led by Dr. Jonathan Mills, at Sunset Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary, 24000 Waalew Rd, Apple Valley on Friday, July 14, 2017 at 6:00 PM, dinner reception immediately following.