Dorothy Hansford Lewis

James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel Dorothy Hansford Lewis, 79, a longtime resident of Sneads, FL died Saturday, September 22, 2012 in Wetumpka, AL. She was born on 9/20/1933 in Altha, FL to Robert Lamar Hansford and Mary Magdalene Thomas Hansford. After graduating from High School, she moved to Jacksonville, FL to attend business school, and was employed in the Trucking industry. She met and married Floyd J. Knott, and had three children. She later married John Gladston Nelson, and was blessed with the birth of their son John seven months after Mr. Nelson passed away. When John was 6 years old, she met and married James Earl (Jim) Lewis, who was a crane operator at J & L Steel Company in the Chicago area and lived in Whiting, IN. He raised her son and youngest daughter as if they were his own, and was a role model and stabilizing influence for her two young adult children. Upon his retirement in 1985, they settled in Sneads, FL, among his family. Dorothy was active in the community, volunteering at the Library, Voting Polls, and Thrift Stores. She volunteered at Partners-4-Pets, a no-kill animal shelter in Marianna, which kept her home well supplied with cats. She was a member of Sneads First United Methodist Church and especially enjoyed the discussions of the Adult Sunday School meetings. She was a member of the Eastern Star Marianna Chapter #129, The Sneads Carlisle Rose Garden Club, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy Marianna Chapter #1039. She was a voracious reader who preferred murder mysteries, and was a collector of Depression Glass. She was preceded in death by parents Lamar and Magdalene Hansford, husband John G. Nelson, husband Jim Lewis, and sister Virgie Harris Perretta. She is survived by daughter Debbie Seymour, her husband Jim, and granddaughter Madison, of Johns Creek, GA; son Floyd Dale Knott and Lisa Haak, of Jacksonville, FL; daughter Frances Miller of Columbia, SC; son John G. Nelson and wife Shea, of Tallahassee, FL; sister Betty Maurer of Montgomery, AL; sister and brother-in-law Sue and Tom Jaworowski of Wetumpka AL; brother and sister-in-law Robert (Bobby) and Sandra Hansford of Astor, FL; brothers -and- sisters-in-law Don and Margie Lewis of Sneads, Bob and Alice Lewis of Townville, PA, and Jack and Anne Lewis of Woodlake, CA; numerous nieces and nephews, and their children. Funeral services will be 2pm Sunday, September 30, 2012 at Sneads First United Methodist Church with Rev. Ernie Gray officiating. Burial will follow in Hill Crest Cemetery in Quincy with James and Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel directing. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services at the church.