Derrick Wayne Lewis was born to Albert & Sarah Lewis on December 28, 1967. He attended Lutheran School through the second grade when the family moved to Forest Hills in 1975.

His aptitude in science and math made him an obvious candidate for Brooklyn Technical H.S., one of the top 3 academic high schools in New York.  Upon graduating from high school he informed his father that he wanted to go into advertising, and as fate would have it, he was able to arrange to work as a summer intern throughout his under graduate years. He graduated from Penn State University in 1989, with a BA in Marketing.

Upon graduation, Derrick used his network of contacts developed during his years as an intern to move directly into his field of choice.  In 1993, he moved to Chicago to take advantage of opportunities to advance his career and in 2012, was temporarily relocated to London as Global Business Director for StarCom, Marketing, and Advertising. 

But his life was hardly just about his work & his career.  He loved to travel and enjoy whatever life had to offer.  His frequent travels included Europe, China, India, Russia, Turkey, South America, Australia, Viet Nam, Cambodia, New Zealand,  South Africa and the Canary Islands to name a few.  Traveling helped shape his outgoing personality and his ability to easily make, and keep, lifelong friends.  He was gregarious, funny, fun loving and had a laugh that made anyone who heard it burst into laughter with him.  It’s no surprise that his friends have held memorial services in London, Chicago, and New York to honor his memory and his life.  If Derrick taught us nothing else, he taught us how to live and perhaps, more importantly, he taught us how to die.  He approached death as just another journey.

Derrick is survived by his father Albert and by his aunts; Dorothy, Connie, Marguerite, Louise,  Pat and his uncles; Patrick, Bobbie, Malcolm, Ted and a host of cousins.  He will also be missed by his extended "Family" Matt, Jayne, Kim, Bob, Gordon, Sarah, Yolanda ...

Derrick is gone but not forgotten…