Obituary: Lewis Wetzel 

Lewis Kings Wetzel, 88, passed away on Friday, July 26, 2019.

Lew was born in Detroit, Mich., the only child of Eleanor Nixon Wetzel and Lewis Malcolm Wetzel. Lew was a proud graduate of Antioch College in Ohio, where he received his mechanical engineering degree. Lew fell in love with Vermont and Lake Champlain when he began his lifelong career at the General Electric Company. Lew married Ann Bradbury Wetzel in Burlington in 1953, and they remained together for 66 years. They raised their three children, Stephen, Mark and Jeannie, in South Burlington and moved to Colchester in 1980. Lew was an ardent sailor and an active member and frequent race winner at the Malletts Bay Boat Club on his sailboats The Blue Moon, The West Wind and The Shadow.

After Ann purchased some property in Grand Isle, Lew built the family summer camp on the east shore of Grand Isle, where he enjoyed family gatherings, lake activities and vegetable gardening. Lew worked long hours on the initial creation of the Colchester Causeway Bike Path. Lew could build or fix practically anything; he totally restored his 1959 Triumph TR3 and maintained Ann’s 1959 Mercedes Benz sedan.

Lew leaves behind his wife, Ann; son Stephen and his wife, Jan Wetzel; son Mark and his wife, Joan Wetzel; daughter Jeannie and her husband, Gary Hampel; four grandchildren, Mathew and Jeffrey Wetzel and Andrea and Carly Hampel; and, of course, his beloved terrier, Ozzie.

Services will be private, at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Heart Association.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Cremation Society of Chittenden County, a division of the Ready Funeral Home, 261 Shelburne Rd., in Burlington. Please place online condolences at cremationsocietycc.com.