Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

If you ask the people at W.S. Neal High School, they would tell you about his eagerness to learn and his ability to brighten up a room. If you ask his little league coach and good friend Randy Winton, Winton would tell you about how selfless and humble he was. If you ask his Sunday school teacher Juanita Cox, she would tell you about his great love for Jesus and his family. If you ask his mother Kim Lewis, she would tell you how proud she and her family are of her son Troy Lewis.

Lewis died while on active duty in Alaska on March 15. Funeral arrangements for Lewis will be at 1 p.m. today at Second Saint John Baptist Church. A balloon release for Lewis will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at W.S. Neal High School.

Lewis graduated from Neal High School in 2016, and enlisted into the U.S. Army in 2018. Several of Lewis’s family members served in the armed forces. Lewis planned to stay in the military until retirement.

“He wanted to follow in his grandfather and uncle’s footsteps,” Kim Lewis said. “He wanted to make us proud, and he did.”

Micha Stallworth taught Lewis physical science and knew him for a longtime through church. Stallworth described Lewis as a bright and eager student.

“His personality was infectious,” Stallworth said. “He could brighten up a room with the flash of a smile.”

Cox said that she looked at Lewis as a part of her family. She said when Lewis was a young child, he would climb into the church van every Sunday morning excited to learn about Jesus.

Cox said you could often find Lewis singing in the youth choir, leading prayer service or taking time out of his day to help others.

“Troy, a young man with integrity had a great desire to help others,” Cox said. “Knowing him was like looking into a mirror and seeing the reflection of the impact his family had on his life.

He was trustworthy, respectful, kind hearted and humble. He loved people and he loved his family.”