Evan Daniel Lewis

Evan was born on June 9, 2005 at Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, FL. Throughout Evans life he was involved in several sports which started at YMCA at 4 years old playing Soccer, Basketball and Flag football. He continued with football for two seasons at MCYFL as a Pee wee Ram with Coach Hal Roberts, then on to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Kindergarten to 8th grade. In high school Evan wrestled for West Port High School with Coach Paul Dodge. He was a champion wrestler in his weight class. Evan graduated high school with honors in 2023. Although he wasn't sure what he wanted to do as a career, Evan knew he wanted to travel and help people. After a couple of years of odds and ends jobs, Evan decided to join a Fire school seminar at The Florida State Fire College. When he left that day he knew that was what he wanted to do. So he moved forward with his application and the necessary testing to be accepted with MCFR. Of course, without a doubt, he was accepted and we moved Evan into the dorms on campus. Once the program began, we were so proud of each milestone crossed. Then with great sadness during a drill Evan became stuck in a maze by his air tank and he removed his glove to adjust and get out. When he came out of the maze he forgot to put his glove back on and that was considered a critical error. Although at the time we were devastated and upset as he was only a week from finishing Fire 1, we understood if it were live Fire he would have sustained severe burns or worse. So he was dropped from the program and had to leave and reapply and start all over. We encouraged Evan not to give up and go back and finish what he started. And he did. He reapplied when the time came and he was accepted into the program. We moved Evan back into the dorm and he started over. Only this time, not only did he finish the course and come through the maze, but he set a record cutting the time to beat in half! So he moved forward to Fire 2 and the rest was history. He came and he conquered. We were so proud of him at his first graduation ceremony and all that he accomplished so far. Then he moved forward into EMT. Evan loved EMT training going to clinicals and seeing first hand up close. When Evan completed his EMT and recieved his certificate of completion for meeting all the criteria to be a FIREFIGHTER/EMT he immediately sent a picture of his certificate and titled his message FF/EMT LEWIS. That was one of the MANY proudest moments in his life. Now we just had to wait a few weeks for the pinning ceremony where he would recieve his official badge and be assigned to MCFR Station #23 in Ocala, FL. During that couple of weeks, we celebrated Evans 21st birthday on June 9, 2026. Family gathered and celebrated all that he had accomplished in just 21 years. In the early morning on June 14, 2026 we received the phone call of every parents worst nightmare. Evan was in an accident and was in critical condition. He was in Orlando when he wrecked his motorcycle and was transported to ORMC in the trauma unit. We all rushed as quickly as we could to get to him. Once we arrived it seemed like an eternity before we could see him because the hospital staff was still working on stabilizing him. When we were finally able to see him, it was devastating. We spent the next 48 hours with Evan hoping, begging for him to be healed and come home. We were numb when the doctors said they have done all they could do and Evan would not recover from his severe injuries. After many tears and family discussions we learned that Evan decided to be an organ donor long before this. We knew that in order to honor Evans wishes and honor him the way he deserved, we were running out of time. After speaking with the donation company, we began to prepare for Evans honor walk. Before the walk began, MCFR held a small private pinning ceremony, bedside. Honoring Evan with his badge and the first in his class to be pinned. A record breaking 430 people, family, friends, Firefighters, and Police officers, filled the hospital hallways for our son. Nothing prepares you for the devastating tragedy of losing a child. Seeing the hundreds of people that came to honor him was humbling. One week later MCFR held an honorable funeral service that embodied a countless amount of people made of family, friends, Firefighters, and Police officers. After Evans service, a few days later on July 9, 2026 we attended the MCFR pinning ceremony and accepted Evans certificate on his behalf. Watching parents straighten their sons tie, pin their badge and take family pictures was difficult. But nonetheless we were there to represent our son who worked so hard to walk across the stage with his classmates and to support the remaining graduates. Evans legacy will go on for as long as we can help it for generations to come and we hope that whoever visits this page will share a picture, a video, or just random thoughts of Evan throughout the years to come.