Funeral Mass for Paul Richard Lewis Sr., 78, of Killeen will be 9:00, Wednesday September 24 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church with Father Alexander Nwagwu as the main celebrant. A rosary will be prayed before the Mass at 8:30. Internment will follow the Mass at the Central Texas State Veteran’s Cemetery at 11:00 sharp. Paul Richard Lewis Sr., 78, of Killeen, TX passed away on Monday, September 15th, 2025 on the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, at his son’s residence surrounded by his children. He was born September 10, 1947 in Middletown, OH to Eugene Lawrence Lewis and Janet Mae Fashner. He was the 5th child of 7 children and grew up as an army brat. For sports he loved to play baseball and wasn’t bad at basketball either. He also loved music and was best at playing the drums. He attended Frankfurt High School in Germany where his father was stationed and graduated in 1965. Eventually, he followed his father’s and his older brother’s (Skip) footsteps by enlisting in the army in 1968 during the war and while he was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division he deployed to Vietnam. During this deployment while stationed in Long Binh, he met his future wife Janette (Pham Thi Hoa) It is known that Janette initially turned down Paul’s attempts to court her, but eventually accepted to go to Mass on Sunday as their first date. They would eventually marry on April 1, 1970 just before Paul was expected to return to the states. They traveled to and from the United States and Europe during his 23 1/2 years of service. During those years, they would raise 3 children and travel to 7 duty stations, three of which resided in Germany. Towards the end of his career, he was part of the 3rd Armored Division (Spearhead) and was a 63Z Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor and retired as a first sergeant at Fort Hood, TX. As a civilian, he was a realtor for a few years and eventually became a computer technician for Northrop Grumman until he retired. He and his wife resided in Killeen, TX the rest of their days. They were married for 49 years until Janette passed in 2020. Paul and Janette attended many Catholic parishes at various duty stations. Towards the end of Paul’s military career, they became members of the Fort Hood Catholic Community and had their marriage blessed in 1991 at Comanche Chapel. Throughout their time together, they both volunteered as catechists and Paul volunteered as a lector. Anyone that knew Paul knew that he enjoyed his solitude, but most of all he loved Jesus and encouraged others to follow Him. He loved the occasional political debates as he followed the news regularly. He also loved comedy and would often reminisce about TV shows such as The Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on First. He especially loved music as he would sing and play instruments, such as the keyboard, guitar and the drums. He was also a songwriter and wrote many original songs such as “A Mother’s Love” which he wrote for his own mother, “Make Love Not War” and “Is Our Love Real?” to name a few. His expression of faith, sense of humor and love for music was his way to connect with his children and grandchildren, whom he loved and held close to his heart. He would often document family gatherings by taking pictures and videos to make collages and music videos that he would post on social media; hoping one day his children and his children’s children and so forth would cherish them as he had. Finally, he was passionate and proud to be and American. He had a love for the country he fought for and served and as they say, “Once a soldier always a soldier.” Survivors include his older brother, Lawrence E. Lewis (Skip), his two sons Paul R. Lewis Jr. and Eugene L. Lewis, his daughter Janette H. Tseng, his grandchildren Jacob Lewis, Joshua Lewis, Gabriella Nunez, Simon Lewis, Kylee Lewis, Aimee Tseng, Andy Tseng, his great grandchildren Emmett Sabol, Liam Hodges, Elena Sanchez, Ezel Sanchez, Eli Lewis and Elaya Cordova. Janette preceded him in death in June of 2020. Arrangements are being handled by Broecker Funeral of Salado