Friday, August 27, 2021
I am Christi Lewis, niece of Jo and Paul Pettigrew. Paul was Lou Pettigrew’s brother. As children, we were instructed to address her as , “Aunt Neva”, as she was a member of our family as if she had been born into it. I remember her as an intelligent, strong woman, and I believe she was even one more role model for me as an independent woman in our family who made her way in the world on her own. I also remember that she worked well into her old age, and at one time had a specialty coffee shop with Lou. I remember the delicious jams snd jellies they gifted family from their store. Another memory I have is one Christmas I had traveled to Aunt Jo snd Uncle Paul’s house with all of my Christmas gifts, but hadn’t wrapped them yet. Neva wrapped every single one of my presents beautifully that night, so they would be ready for the family get-together the next morning. In addition, I remember she loved genealogy, and one time she and Lou researched a side of our family tree that we did not have much information on, and because of this, we learned many new things about the family. I’m sure this took many hours of hard work. I know the family appreciated her and will miss her very much.
