Her Years of Kindness Repaid in Sad Appeal

Whenever attorneys in the county public defender’s office had a problem communicating with a client, they called on Cathe Lewis to help.

Lewis, 38, of Orange had a knack for breaking through the social barriers that sometimes isolated attorneys from their clients, her colleagues said. During her four years as an investigator who sought alternatives to jail for indigent clients, Lewis earned the respect of co-workers and most of the judges and prosecutors in the Orange County Courthouse.

So when Lewis suffered a relapse of cancer three months ago, hundreds of employees in the courthouse responded. They pledged money, held bake sales on the courthouse lawn and sought public donations to pay her medical expenses.

Medical Insurance Was Exhausted

Public defender William G. Kelley started the campaign in May, after word began to spread that Lewis was terminally ill and that her medical insurance was exhausted. A letter signed by each department head was circulated to employees, and flyers were posted in every office of the courthouse.

“We’re putting on these fund-raisers so she can have some medical attention and nursing care,” Kelley said. “Then there’s fundamental stuff like getting her children fed.”

Organizers, who set a goal of $25,000, have raised more than $20,000 so far, Kelley said.

A four-day bake sale on the courthouse lawn brought in $4,400, the Garden Grove Police Department donated $2,000 and a night at the Los Alamitos Race Track raised more than $4,000. A golf tournament was held Friday at Meadowlark Golf Club. Other events are scheduled.

“It’s remarkable that every single agency represented in the courthouse is pulling together to make this a success,” said Superior Court Judge Samuel B. Taylor, a member of the steering committee. “To see people who are fighting with each other in the courtroom--public defenders, D.A.s, police and county clerks, all pitching in with their time, talent and resources--is very heartwarming. And some of them don’t even know her.”

Mother Has Supported the Family

Lewis cannot work and has no source of income. Her mother, Patricia Averett, 62, has been supporting the family on her salary as an office manager for a petroleum company.

Although Lewis tried to hide it, co-workers noticed her distress as the bills mounted--$10,000 for each radiation session and $2,000 for other treatments.

Becky Juliano, a co-worker and friend, said: “There is something about Cathe, she won’t say that she’s concerned about things, but you know that she is. She once got a bill for $5,000, and she was wondering how she was going to pay it. She didn’t make a salary that was outstanding enough to take care of those expenses.”

Lewis, who has grown frail, said she is overwhelmed by the caring but is relieved that her family won’t face a financial strain.

“That was my main concern and I think that is why . . . they pitched in. They all sensed my great worry over that . . . not wanting to leave my children strapped with anything,” Lewis said at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. “You find yourself without words when you think about what they are doing.”

Lewis’ cancer of the spine was first diagnosed six years ago. She was able to function normally until she suffered a relapse two years ago and has since been in and out of hospitals. Three months ago, her condition worsened. To relieve excruciating pain, doctors have inserted a shunt in her back to drip morphine directly on the tumor.

Father Died 2 Weeks Ago

Two weeks ago, Lewis’ 71-year-old father died. He had been bedridden for months with a blood disease and had suffered a series of strokes that left him blind and partially deaf.

Lewis said she has come to terms with her own illness, which confines her to bed most of the time: “It took me a long time to feel anger. For some time, I felt like I must have done something to deserve it. I’m very sad now. I just wanted to see my children grow up and be with them. That’s all I want right now, to see them and be with my family.”

Lewis, who is divorced, said her illness has been hardest on her three sons, Jeff, 18, Greg, 16, and Todd, 12.

“Each one of them handles it different,” she said. “Jeff comes to see me a lot and believes in positive thinking, yet he is also realistic. The little one doesn’t really talk about it. He’s very loving and hugging and will look at me with tears in his eyes. The middle one is very, very angry . . . and it comes out in hostility.”

Rehabilitation Programs

As an investigator for the county’s Alternative Disposition Program, Lewis was responsible for finding rehabilitation programs for eligible clients, primarily those with mental deficiencies, drug or alcohol problems or other disorders.

Lewis described her job as that of social worker, mental health worker, investigator and baby-sitter--and she took pride in it.

“A lot of times during trials, I would get involved with clients,” she said. “For some reason I could relate to them. Attorneys would come to me and say, ‘Cathe, I can’t reach this person, they’re just not talking to me. Can you go down and see if you can get them to talk?’ And for some reason, I was able to do that. I don’t know if it was because I was a mother or what.”

Her colleagues said they could always count on Lewis to go beyond the call of duty.

Helped Motivate People

“She really had a way with these people,” Juliano said, “working with them, understanding them and listening to them, yet at the same time being a good guidance for them. She didn’t feel sorry for them, . . . but she had a way of working with them to help them self-motivate and know that they have potential.”

Lewis once went up and down the halls of the Courthouse soliciting money to buy a bus ticket so a client who was mentally incompetent could return to Texas to be with his family, according to Carl C. Holmes, the chief deputy public defender and Lewis’ former supervisor.

Other times she raised money for clothes or brought clothes from home so that a client would have something suitable to wear to trial.

And despite warnings from supervisors not to give rides to clients because of insurance liability, Lewis often drove them to and from the courthouse when they had no other means of transportation.

‘Find A Way to Help’

“She felt so sorry for people she was trying to care for that she often ignored those admonitions,” Holmes said. “It was characteristic of her attitude. If the county couldn’t do it, she would find a way to help.

“She had a rare and unusual quality to carry clients that extra mile to try and get help for them. I think that’s why the county judicial system and legal system responded to her. These are people who often feel their work is not understood, and they want to try to stick together and take care of those among them who need help.

“And Cathe obviously needed help.”