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Celebrating the ‘Beautiful Life’ of Dr. Sheila Lewis Ealey
I was fortunate to attend a beautiful Celebration of Life ceremony for Dr. Sheila Lewis Ealey on Aug. 4 in New Orleans. Sheila was a dear friend, colleague and former Children’s Health Defense board member.
Dr. Sheila Lewis Ealey’s children at her memorial (left to right): Lucinda Ealey, Leielani Ealey, Paulette Wright Bingham (friend) and Temple Ealey.
I was fortunate to attend a beautiful Celebration of Life ceremony for Dr. Sheila Lewis Ealey on Aug. 4 in New Orleans. Sheila was a dear friend, colleague and former Children’s Health Defense (CHD) board member.
Although the occasion was tear-filled, it was wonderful to be together with so many friends, family and colleagues who loved Sheila.
Sheila’s oldest daughter, Jennifer Brady, read an obituary from the program that Jennifer and Sheila had worked on together. It also had many photos from Sheila’s full life.
Each speaker in the service brought out a different facet of Sheila’s life, starting with her daughter Leielani Ealey, who gave a beautiful remembrance, and her daughter Lucinda Ealey, who sang Mozart’s “Ave Maria.”
Lucinda was followed by Sheila’s younger brother, Rev. Alex Lewis III, who was deeply touched by Lucinda’s singing, as it so profoundly reminded him of Sheila’s singing. Rev. Lewis told touching, funny stories of when he and Sheila were children. Sheila was three years older and protected and promoted him fiercely as his “big sister.”
Jay Banks, a schoolmate, followed Rev. Lewis. Jay spoke about Sheila’s high school years.
Then Lisa Winter, a friend and co-founder of the Creative Learning Center of Louisiana, spoke. Lisa and Sheila created a special needs school for their sons, which gave them a place to learn and grow and be nurtured and cared for.
Dr. Kashi Rai, friend and physician, spoke about the incredible mother Sheila was, especially to her vaccine-injured son Temple.
Jon Tommey, husband of CHD.TV Program Director Polly Tommey, spoke about Sheila’s role on the board of the Autism Trust, a home that Jon, Polly, Sheila and her husband Ron co-founded for adults on the autism spectrum. Jon spoke eloquently of the need to provide people like Temple and Jon’s son, Billy, with a loving home and community where they can live lives of purpose.
I was then invited to speak and to deliver words from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHD’s chairman on leave. Here are the remarks I delivered for myself:
“In losing Sheila, we have lost not only a dear friend and colleague, but we’ve lost a giant in the health freedom movement. Sheila did all she could to be of service to stop Pharma corruption and the needless harm to children like her precious son Temple.
“Sheila served on the Children’s Health Defense board selflessly even while she was struggling with disease. She spoke at major gatherings, served on board committees, was part of the film ‘Medical Racism,’ and we were proud to honor her with a lifetime achievement award at our first conference.
“Not only did Sheila devote herself to CHD‘s mission, but she engaged her family as well. Her husband Ron played a key role with the CHD bus, which traveled around the country, and her daughter Leilani served as a CHD fellow.
“All at CHD, the board, staff and supporters, will miss Sheila tremendously, but we will carry her indomitable spirit with us wherever we go until that beautiful day when children like Temple, and so many others, will no longer be at risk of vaccine harm.”
Here are the remarks I delivered for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
“I was so saddened to learn of Sheila’s passing. It should be a consolation to all of those who loved her to imagine the great joy she took from our love and devotion to her.
“Sheila was the embodiment of the Warrior Mom. The task of caring for her injured son consumed her life. Yet she somehow managed to find equivalent energies to fight for justice for the vaccine-injured and protect other families from injury.
“Sheila made herself a brilliant, eloquent advocate for truth and children’s health, and I was proud that she was my friend.
“She was my partner in building CHD into a juggernaut for her cause. Her humor, courage and energy inspired me during the most daunting times. She was a template for the power of pure love. She will continue to be a source of strength to all who care about protecting children.
“Sheila never gave up, never gave in, and never lost hope that the world would one day acknowledge the repercussions of allowing private industry to dictate public health policy.
“When my brother David died, I asked my mom if the hole they leave in you when your loved ones pass ever gets any smaller. She answered that the hole never gets smaller, but that our job is to grow ourselves bigger around the hole. We do this by integrating the most admirable virtues of our departed friend into our own character. In this way, we grow larger and the hole gets proportionately smaller. We also give that person a kind of immortality.
“That thought has always given me comfort when I lose a friend. Sheila offered all of us a cornucopia of wonderful virtues. She was a role model for both moral and physical courage, tenacity, compassion, motherhood, integrity, and most of all, she was a very good friend.
“She will live with me every day as I try to model the attributes she demonstrated every day of her life.”
Leah Wilson, executive director and co-founder of Stand For Health Freedom, also spoke at the service. Leah talked about Sheila’s great faith and her courage to stand for children injured by vaccines.
Sheila’s long-time friend Paulette Wright Bingham sang a remarkable rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
Finally, Sheila’s husband Rev. Ron Ealey spoke eloquently about what an extraordinary woman Sheila was and how grateful he was to have been married to her.
After the burial at the cemetery, the family hosted a luncheon at the Audubon Tea Room, where family and friends mingled and told stories about Sheila.
There was also a video that played with interviews and talks Sheila had given. I was pleased to meet Sheila’s mother, Lucinda Temple Lewis, who is deeply involved with Sheila’s family. Many wonderful people from the health freedom movement came to pay their respects — it was comforting to mourn Sheila’s loss together.
Sheila taught us so many lessons. As the program said, “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” May we all pursue our purpose, as Sheila did.
Community on occasion posts content related to Children’s Health Defense’s nonprofit mission that features Mr. Kennedy’s views on the issues CHD and Community regularly cover. In keeping with Federal Election Commission rules, this content does not represent an endorsement of Mr. Kennedy, who is on leave from CHD and is running as an independent for president of the U.S.
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