'Only God could've orchestrated': Relatives mourn deaths of five in Lake Charles family

Hurricane Laura, with all its might and power, couldn't stop Rosalie and John Charles Lewis Sr.

The grandparents — she 81 and he 84 — survived the Category 4 storm with their daughter, her husband, and Rosalie's brother at the family home in Lake Charles.

But hours after the storm passed, their family of five fell victim to carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator in their garage. Rosalie Lewis, her daughter Kim Evans, 56, son-in-law Chris Evans, 61, and brother Clyde Handy, 72, died in the family home, while John Charles Lewis Sr. was rushed to a hospital. He died Thursday, a week after the storm passed.

If Rosalie were alive today, the family's bold and straight-talking leader would remind them all what she has repeated time and again to lift their spirits.

"Happiness is a choice," she'd say. "No matter what happens in your life, you can choose to be happy."

That's what Sheletta Brundidge remembers about her aunt.

And so when Brundidge, 48, of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, received the call from her mother about their deaths, she pulled out the Grey Duck Vodka, she cried and she remembered.

“I was devastated that these lives that were so important to my life, my family, my blood relatives, my kin were all gone, at one time, in one hurricane,” Brundidge said. “They all planted a seed in me, and they all are just now starting to grow.”

Rosalie’s son, Lyle Lewis, 55, of Lake Charles, found his family the morning after the storm in their home. John Lewis was the only one still breathing, and was taken to the hospital where he died days later.

“I was just numb to the situation,” Lewis said.

Photos: Hurricane Laura damage seen in aerial pictures

The family was concerned about evacuating before the storm because they didn't want to expose Rosalie and John Lewis to COVID-19 in a hotel or a shelter.

“At their age, we didn’t want to take them to a different environment," Lyle Lewis said. "My mother’s had a couple strokes and my dad was in the early stages of dementia … so we didn’t want to evacuate.”

A generator was set up in the garage and powered the home after they lost electricity, he said.

“Somewhere in the middle of the night, the weather closed the garage door," Lyle Lewis said. "We thought it was ventilated enough, because it was a three car garage, but when the other door closed, it just wasn’t enough ventilation."

Family and friends are finding it hard to deal with the tragedy, Lewis said.

“I believe in God and only God could’ve orchestrated the situation we had,” he said. 

A pioneer: Rosalie Lewis

Rosalie Lewis was the first Black and female postal carrier and supervisor in southwest Louisiana.

“My mother was our everything,” Lewis said. “She was our mother, our father, our sister, our brother. She was the matriarch of our family.”

She a bright, honest, loving, caring pillar of the community, he said. She helped start a new church in their home town.

“She was my Queen,” Lewis said.

“She taught me to set an example and to prove that black women are just as strong, just as smart, and just as capable,” wrote 26-year-old granddaughter Caitlyn Lewis of Lake Charles, in a Facebook post. “Every time we were together, she got emotional telling me how proud of me she was.”

Rosalie Lewis was a role model, Brundidge said. Her Aunt Rosa housed her, rent free, when she started her first job right out of college until she could save money for a place of her own. She was also a big Saints fan.

A traveler: John Lewis Sr.

John Charles Lewis, Sr. was a truck driver for 40 years, fond of traveling and the adventures on the road.

“The first twenty years he was an over the road driver, meaning he was always gone. But he did that to make sure he took care of his family,” Lewis said. “He retired and became a full-time father.”

How to help:  Relief efforts by Acadiana businesses aiding those impacted by Hurricane Laura

He told his granddaughter he was proud of her whenever they spoke, Caitlyn Lewis said.

“He was so excited when I moved to New Orleans and tried to get me to visit all of his family.” She wishes he would have had the chance to show her around. He taught her to never settle and pushed her beyond the limits of her hometown.

A devoted daughter: Kim Evans

Kim Evans devoted the past several years to her parents, helping her mother after her strokes and her father as he struggled with dementia.

“She gave her life, taking care of our parents,” Lewis said.

Brundidge said she idolized Evans, her cousin, inspired by her sass and sense of trends and fashion.

“Oh my god wanted to be like her,” Brundidge said. “Whatever was out, she was in it."

Brundidge watched her advance in her career, just like Rosalie Lewis, as a top supervisor at the U.S. Postal Service. 

Caitlyn already had her Aunt Kim’s Christmas present picked out - a Louis Vuitton purse. 

“She loved all of her nieces so much and treated us like her own children,” Caitlyn Lewis said. “We all had our special bond with her that made us feel unique in her eyes.”

An entrepreneur: Chris Evans 

Chris Evans was married to Kim for more than 30 years, and so when his wife's parents needed help he was by her side.

“My brother-in-law and my sisters life changed when my mother had her first stroke,” Lewis said. “My brother-in-law is our family’s hero, because he took care of my parents."

“My brother-in-law was like a father, an uncle, a brother to the rest of my family,” Lewis said. “He was our everything.”

Video: Hurricane Laura damage seen from drone footage

Chris Evans was known as the entrepreneur of the family, working multiple jobs while pursuing his own side projects. Brundidge said he showed her the possibility of success.

To Caitlyn, Uncle Chris was known as a gumbo connoisseur. 

“My uncle Chris always made gumbo on sight for me. He would even make me my own personal pot,” Caitlyn said. “He would tell my family straight up, ‘This is for Caity, don’t touch it.’”

A kind soul: Clyde Handy

Clyde Handy had the sweetest soul in the family. He was always the one to remember birthdays and send a card, Brundidge said. 

”That’s just who he was, that’s what he did,” Brundidge said. “He loved people. He loved making people feel special.”

Caitlyn never got tired of the many stories her Uncle Clyde would tell of her dad and his brothers when they were growing up.

Lewis remembers Clyde stepping in as a father figure when his father was on the road.

“Uncle Clyde was very instrumental in our entire lives, me and my siblings,” Lewis said. “He helped my mother raise us with my dad being on the road.”

A joint funeral service and burial for the five relatives will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12.