Lewis Roy Bridewell
1925-2018
Lewis Roy Bridewell, Jr., 93, passed away suddenly on July 12, 2018. Virginia Bridewell, his wife of almost 72 years was by his side, as were his daughter, son-in-law, son and grandson.
Roy was born on February 23, 1925 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma to Lewis Roy Bridewell, Sr. and Laura Davis Bridewell Duncan. His father died when he was young and his mother remarried. He was close to his stepfather, Charlie Duncan and his two brothers, Robert and Dan, as well as his sister, Juanita. He has many nieces and nephews that he loved dearly. To Roy, family was everything.
His patriotism knew no bounds and when World War II began, he enlisted in the Navy the day he turned 17. He received his Honorable Discharge after contracting rheumatic fever during his military career.
He met his wife, Virginia on a blind date and they were married three weeks later. She was, is and will always be the love of his life. Their marriage lasted 71 years, 10 months and twenty-one days. He is survived by Virginia, his daughter Jana Cline, and his son Steve Bridewell, as well as his grandsons Dustin Cline and Russell Cline and his three great grandchildren; Trinity, Willow and Korbin.
He began working for Safeway Stores, Inc. in 1944 and continued until his retirement in 1986. He held several positions, such as advertising manager, but his greatest contribution to the company was as a district manager. Early in his career with Safeway, he returned to school and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1955.
He remained a loyal OU fan for the rest of his life. He loved OU sports. Football, basketball, baseball, softball, even gymnastics. If OU was playing on television, Roy was watching and cheering.
After his retirement, he sold real estate for a while, but then found a calling working for what started out as the Safeway Credit Union, but later changed its name to the Oklahoma Federal Credit Union. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 1996 and served as Chairman of the Board in 2007-2008. He cherished the friendships he made with both the Safeway and the Credit Union communities.
Services will be held at 12:00 noon at the New Covenant United Methodist Church on July 26, 2018. The address is 2700 S. Boulevard, Edmond, OK 73013.