Barbara Lewis Colorado Springs Co School Teacher Poisoned

Retired Colorado Springs math teacher Barbara J. Lewis, who spent decades giving back to the city she loved and instilling a sense of generosity, accountability and determination in its — and her own — children, died Aug. 17, a day that had resonated throughout so many of her 79 years.

The first day of school.

"The fact that my mom died that Monday, which was the first day back for all the teachers, we took that to know that she wanted things to happen in a certain way, and for her grandchildren to get back to school, and for all of us to do all we could to continue to live life to the fullest, because she certainly did," said Lewis' daughter, Sally Hybl.

Sending a positive message through her actions, in her classroom at Cheyenne Mountain High School and beyond, had always been Lewis' way.

That's one reason she never wanted to talk about the 1993 crime that sent shock waves through the community and drew national news coverage, after a 17-year-old student poisoned her water bottle at school. Lewis suffered severe chemical burns to her mouth and throat and was left with medical complications that would continue to plague her for the rest of her life.

Scott Wade Matheson reacts to the guilty verdict as his mother stands nearby on Aug. 27, 1994, in Colorado Springs. Matheson was found guilty of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon for slipping a caustic chemical into the water bottle of his teacher, Barbara Lewis, and sentenced to 18 years in an adult prison. The following year a judge suspended that sentence and ordered him to serve six years in a Pueblo detention center for violent youth offenders, where the focus is on rehabilitation. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, courtesy of the Pikes Peak Library District)

The Gazette File

But she refused to let "The Incident" define her or the school and students she so deeply cherished, said Hybl, who said her mother turned down interview requests from the "Oprah Winfrey Show," and, more recently, the producers of an episode of "Homicide Hunter" for the Investigation Discovery network.

"Not only did she not want the attention, she never looked at herself as a victim. She also never wanted there to be any negativity associated with that school or that kid, who she knew was just a kid who'd lost his way," Hybl said.

Barbara Lewis poses with her nine grandchildren in Christmas 2016. Having all her family nearby, and spending time with them, was one of the greatest joys of her life, said her children.

Courtesy of Sally Hybl Barbara Lewis poses with her nine grandchildren in Christmas 2016. Having her family nearby, and spending time with them, was one of the greatest joys of her life, said her children.

The family believes that the painful chapter is an important part of Lewis' legacy, though. Not because of what was done to her, but what she chose to do in response.

"She always wanted to show that life hands a lot of people a lot of challenging situations, and what you do with it is really your choice," Hybl said. "What she chose to do with that is pour more love and more attention into that school and into kids. I feel like we could all learn from her example."

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Barbara Lewis was born in New Jersey and raised in Parkersburg, W.Va., where she returned to begin her high school teaching career at her old alma mater after graduating from Ohio University in 1962.

Dr. Ted Lewis and Barbara Lewis had a profound respect and appreciation for the power of education and altruism. They passed those values down to their three children, and shared them with everyone they encountered through their work in the community. This photo was taken while the couple was on vacation, in 2007. "Dr. Ted" preceded his wife in death, on March 25, 2009.

Courtesy of Sally Hybl

She married the "love of her life," Ted Lewis, on July 1, 1967, and supported him through medical school at West Virginia University. After he graduated in 1971, they moved to Denver for his residency at the University of Colorado, and six years later, the family of five relocated to Colorado Springs to begin planting deep roots.

"My mom would tell you that her greatest gift in life was that all of us having grown up here had moved back here. All of her kids and her grandchildren lived within miles of her," said Hybl.

Lewis was a tireless volunteer who understood the dynamics and commitment it takes to make a community, and a community program, thrive. Among her many off-the-clock endeavors, she devoted time to her church, Chapel of Our Saviour, where she served as a member of the vestry, altar guild, kitchen crew, and outreach committee and, for many years, its treasurer.

"She taught us and showed us how to love one another and how to share the journey that we walk together with humor and grace. Anytime we can muster the courage to imitate those qualities, we will be honoring all that she taught us and showed us in the days we shared with her," wrote the Rev. David Dill, memorializing Lewis in last week's church newsletter. "If you didn't know Barbara, ask someone in our community to tell you their stories about how she blessed them. And please don't confine your curiosity to the Chapel of Our Saviour community."

Lewis certainly didn't. She also was a familiar face, and force, at the Junior League, Colorado Springs Debutante Ball, Cheyenne Mountain Schools, Family Promise Network, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the Pikes Peak Library District, where, like at many of her stations, her nickname, "Grandma," said it all.

"There weren't that many people who still referred to her as Mrs. Lewis. She kind of became everybody's grandma," said Hybl, a local philanthropist and civic leader with her husband Kyle, who is president and chief executive officer of the El Pomar Foundation. "My mom always felt like the greatest gift you can give is to spend time with young people and invest in them, and that's what she did."

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Barbara Lewis, with all her children and grandchildren, in December, the last family photo.

Courtesy of Sally Hybl

Lewis chose not to work outside the home while her three children were young, but returned to the classroom in 1987 to teach math at the school they attended, Cheyenne Mountain High School, where she was named Teacher of the Year in 1993 and, in 2016, inducted into the district's Hall of Fame.

"We always regarded Barbara as one of our master teachers. She was the student council advisor and could relate well to the top performers, but probably her special niche was being able to reach some students that struggled in math," said Springs attorney David McDermott, a close family friend who served on the district's board alongside Lewis' husband, Ted, the former Director of Medical Education at Penrose Hospital and a prominent local doctor who passed away in 2009. "She volunteered for the committees of so many student activities and was always there, always an incredibly warm and supportive person to all students."

McDermott's daughter, Elizabeth Crofoot, was one of Lewis' students, and remembered the beloved teacher as a dispenser of more than mathematical wisdom.

"She wasn't just a math teacher or our student council advisor, she was a mentor and an advocate who pushed me in ways I'm not sure I could have pushed myself," Crofoot said.

Her sister, Lauren McDermott, credits Lewis not only for saving her from failing algebra, but guiding her through her "high school career and beyond."

"She also told it to you straight, which was both refreshing and something we ALL need in our lives," McDermott said in an email.

Once you were part of Lewis' circle, it seemed, that's where you stayed.

"She was there for us during all of our major life events from weddings to baby showers, and also when we were at our lowest whether it was a college rejection, family health scare or a friend's funeral," McDermott said. "Mrs. Lewis' spirit, sense of humor and unending willingness to help others will be just a few things that I will miss most about her."

The Facebook page for Cheyenne Mountain alumni blew up with condolences and memories after the announcement of Lewis' death.

Many of the comments were from students recalling a teacher, and friend, who'd made a lifelong impact.

Many, too, remembered The Incident.

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Kyle Hybl snapped a selfie during the family dinner at Greg Lewis' home, after Barbara Lewis' private memorial service on Aug. 21, 2020. The group included Lewis' children, Geoffrey Lewis, Sally Hybl and Greg Lewis, their spouses and children, and the Rev. David Dill and his wife, Mary Alex, of Chapel of Our Saviour Episcopal church.

Courtesy of Sally Hybl

In December, 1993, a 17-year-old Cheyenne Mountain student named Scott Wade Matheson — angry that Lewis had punished him for skipping class — stole some pellets of a caustic chemical, similar to that found in drain cleaner, from the chem lab. He slipped them into Lewis' water bottle when no one was looking.

The damage to Lewis' mouth and throat were immediate and severe. After initial emergency treatment, she required multiple surgeries, including one to stretch up a portion of her stomach to fashion a replacement for her esophagus, which had constricted to the diameter of a pencil due to scar tissue.

"My mom never lived a day in her life after that day that would be considered normal. She had significant permanent damage, and even in recent years her health became more and more complicated due to the old injury," Hybl said.

But Lewis wasn't one to hold a grudge, or let anything keep her from the place, and people, she loved. She went back to teaching wearing a feeding tube, and scheduled reconstructive surgery for the summer break.

She only attended the trial when required to be there to testify.

"I'm not going to sit through this all again," she said in an Aug. 10, 1994, interview with The Gazette. "I'd much rather be back at work. That's where I belong."

Lewis' oldest child, Geoffrey, had recently finished college and was working as a student teacher at Doherty High School when the poisoning trial was playing out. He remembers finishing work, then heading down to the courthouse to watch the proceedings.

"I was angry. My parents never seemed consumed by anger, and that was the big lesson from them. My mom was not going to let this stop her from teaching," said Geoffrey, who teaches science at Palmer High School in the Springs. "She was not going to let a mistake by one teenager prevent her from seeing all the potential in other teenagers."

Matheson was found guilty of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 18 years in an adult prison in August 1994. The following year a judge suspended the sentence and ordered him transferred to Pueblo, and a youth offender program for violent offenders, for six years.

Barbara and Ted Lewis advocated for the reduced sentence that focused on rehabilitation, and for years afterwards drove down to Cañon City to volunteer at a correctional facility, leading parenting and victim impact classes.

"The message my brother and sister and I got from both my mom and my dad on that, was that there was forgiveness there, but also how can we turn this into something that can help other people?" Geoffrey Lewis said. "They didn't make a big deal about it. That was just something that they did."

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Barbara Lewis officially retired from Cheyenne Mountain in 2005, but continued to substitute teach and tutor students privately until a few months ago, when the effects of the disease she'd been diagnosed with in 2018 — myeloproliferative neoplasms, a type of blood cancer — became too much.

"To be quite honest, one of the hardest phone calls she had to make was to tell the school that she wouldn't be able to substitute this year," Hybl said. "She just couldn't imagine not being in the school with the kids."

Lewis' obituary encourages those who want to honor her memory to donate to one of the causes she championed, and by "spending time with a young person." Once it's safe to do so, the family plans to hold a public gathering to celebrate her life, her stories, and, of course, her chocolate chip cookies.

If you knew Barbara Lewis, you know what that means.

"Anytime she had a student, throughout the years, as a graduation gift she would give them a card that just said, 'Whenever you need it, send this note to me and I will mail you at least a dozen chocolate chip cookies,'" Hybl said.

Many took her up on the care package promise. Lewis was "notorious" for constantly baking, and shipping, the treats.

"I think that's the lesson of my mom, that we can all have some impact, just by connecting with each other," Hybl said. "You never know when a box of cookies that shows up in the mail can change the trajectory of somebody's day, their week … it's pretty incredible. Like her."

Barbara Lewis Colorado Springs Co School Teacher Poisoned

Source: https://gazette.com/news/longtime-teacher-community-grandma-led-by-example-and-with-her-heart/article_73154ca8-e7cc-11ea-b7d5-4fb0e7f30c51.html

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