Obituaries

Lewis Family

Lewis, Harriet “Rikki,” 83, passed away on March 14 of cancer at Largo Medical Center, Florida. She is survived by her brother, Jerry Lewis, and his wife, Meredith Ann Belkov; niece and nephew, Lisa Lynch and Steven Lewis and their children. Rikki was born and raised in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, graduated from Brooklyn College and was a member of MENSA. A New York City elementary school teacher, she also taught at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany for two years. After retirement, she settled in Gulfport, where she was an artist and acted in local theater productions. She founded and operated Silver Threads, that organized and hosted professional and social events for older lesbians. Rikki was classy, sassy and smart. Friends remember her as a fashionable “New Yawker” who celebrated life and enjoyed dessert.

Skizewski, Richard, of Honolulu, Hawaii. Died March 13, 2021. Son of MJ and John Koslowski, of Gulfport, Florida.

Celebration of Life Friends and family of Thomas Goodall are invited to a Celebration of Life for him on April 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Pavilion 6 on Gulfport Beach.

Newman Family

Newman, Thomas Franklin, 88, formerly of St. Petersburg, passed away peacefully January 15, 2021 in Jacksonville, FL. Born 1932 in Willoughby, Ohio, he was the son of the late James Glover Newman and Lucille Margaret Fox, and grandson of Thomas F. Newman, founder of Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Line. He attended Admiral Farragut Academy, Florida Southern College, served in the U.S. Navy on the Archerfish SS- 311 in Key West, worked as a trust officer for Landmark Union Trust and started his own real estate office in Treasure Island. After moving to Jacksonville, he worked for Watson Realty, later starting his own firm, Jaguar Realty. He loved boating; racing power boats in the Hurricane Offshore Classics, Boca Ciega Bay, Vina Del Mar, and Lake Maggiore races in St. Pete. At one point he taught a 10th grade history class while teachers were on strike and placed in a boat race. His class gave him an identical trophy inscribed “We won with Mr. Tom Newman.” After a power boat racing accident in an OB tunnel hull (one of three he ordered, built from plywood) he started sailboat racing. He and his son sailed with Walter Cronkite and Charlie Morgan after watching the launch of the “Heritage” sailboat for the America’s Cup Challenge in late 60s. Tom was a lefty and a giving, big-hearted man with a unique sense of humor and a huge love for all animals. After retiring, he and his wife took over a pet-sitting business! Survivors include his son James (and wife Rebecca), and daughter Carrye of St. Pete; wife Doris Keenan (married 1976) and he adopted her daughters Cynthia and Kimberly; two grandchildren of Jacksonville, and sibling Joyce H. Brock, TN. Predeceased by first wife Joan Petteway, siblings Harl Clark and Maechel “Mike” Patterson. His last request to his son was for one more boat ride, which he received in spirit with Jim, Carrye and Becky on January 23, 2021, to lay a memorial wreath in the Gulf of Mexico out from the Don CeSar. Fair winds and a following sea, Dad.