CARRIE ELLEN MCLEAN was born in BENNETTSVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA on March 29, 1923, to ARDELIA McLEAN, age 17, and ANDREW McLEAN, age 22. Ardelia's maiden name was Jenkins, she was one of 13 children, related to the Jenkins, Peterkins, Lillys, and Williamsons - all of Marlboro County SC. Andrew McLean was one of 6 children, related to the McLean, Hilliard, and Wright families.

Carrie had 2 sisters, Margaret who was 2 years younger, and Annie Mae aka Mary who was 6 years her junior. Carrie spent her early years growing up on a farm in Bennettsville, the county seat of Marlborough County, South Carolina. At about 6 years of age, Carrie's father found employment at a brick factory up North, and moved the family to Claysburg, PA. Claysburg is near the popular Blue Knob Ski Resort. Many years later, Carrie clearly remembered how much she enjoyed seeing the skiers barreling down the slopes of Blue Knob.

In 1932, tragedy struck with death claiming her mother at the young age of 26, leaving Carrie at 8 years old to care for her two younger sisters, Margaret age 6, and Mary age 2. Their father had to work so the three youngsters were taken back to Bennettsville, SC to be raised by a foster family headed by Prince and Constance Brown. It has always been speculated that Carrie's family and the Brown family were related. However, this fact has not been proven yet, but is still being researched.

Raised as Carrie Brown, in her early teens, she migrated to Brooklyn, New York with the Brown family. It was not until her cousin, Winifred Morgan (beloved Cousin Jean) searched and found her in New York, that she became aware that her name was Carrie McLean not Carrie Brown.

Once in New York, Carrie attended Girls High School in Brooklyn. One of her regrets was that she was not able to complete her studies and had to leave school to help support her younger sisters. Carrie worked as a live-in domestic for several years. She met Melvin Lewis and they were married on March 12, 1945. Melvin and Carrie had 5 children: Robert (Bobby), Linda (Coco), Margaret (Peggy), Lester (Tumar), and Donald (Aziz).

Heartbreakingly, at the age of 23, Carrie’s sister Margaret (Maggie) passed away in 1948 from Tuberculous, the same disease that took their mother.

In the 1950s, Melvin and Carrie lived in a brownstone, 101 Halsey Street in the Bedford Stuyvesant community in Brooklyn, N.Y. During that time frame, Carrie may have worked in a commercial laundry where she met friends Mildred McCoy and Elsie (unknown last name). Elsie passed away at an early age but Mildred and Carrie had a lifelong friendship. It was during this time, Melvin and Carrie purchased their own brownstone, in Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, and began renovations. Due to the financial burden of the renovations, the family had to move from Prospect Heights to the Breukelen or Brookline Houses in Canarsie, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Carrie and Melvin separated, and she continued to raise her family and reside in Canarsie and 2 blocks away in East New York for over sixty years. She was loved and respected by many friends and acquaintances, who always greeted her with “Hello Ms. Lewis”. One such friend was Jeanette Cunningham, who remained one of her best friends to the end. Almost daily, Ms. Lewis could be seen walking to Rockaway Parkway. She was adamant about being physically fit, walking and exercising every day. Walking along side of her meant you had to run to keep up. Carrie was a familiar face in the community, she was a devoted member of Canarsie’s Plymouth Congregational Church, until she was physically unable to attend.

Ms. Lewis’ house was the hub of activity for her children and many of the young people in Canarsie. She was famous for cooking big meals and invited many of her children’s friends to partake in holiday and birthday celebrations. Ms. Lewis always made a birthday cake from scratch and put $5.00 in a card. She loved entertaining and having family gatherings. Although she loved children and had many around her, she did not play. A very clean house, a good breakfast (almost always oatmeal), a strict adherence to a 7:30 bedtime and scheduled television time was the norm in her home. Ms. Lewis was a strict disciplinarian but a good teacher and role model. She stressed education and good money management to her children and all the young people she came into contact with. And could she manage money! Although she was of modest means, Ms. Lewis wrote down every transaction, every bill paid, and always had a good size balance in her savings account.

Ms. Lewis was the epitome of fashion and style, both on her person and in her home. She was a subscriber to Ladies Home Journal and Better Homes and Gardens magazines. As a skilled seamstress and very talented artist, she replicated many of the fashions and home decor from those magazines. She was always in style, often with matching hat, pocketbook, and shoes. A member of the now defunct International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), Ms. Lewis worked at Style Undies, Inc. where she employed her skills making beautiful sleepwear, slips, and other lace adorned undergarments. For her home and family, Ms. Lewis created everything from skirts, blouses, dresses, curtains, and drapes as well as other home and fashion accessories.

After Carrie’s children were grown and left home, she once again became a home owner and continued to host many birthday parties, holiday celebrations, barbecues, and other family functions. Carrie helped to raise some of her grandchildren including Kasiem Lewis. She later became a foster parent, fulfilling a long-time desire to help children in need, remembering how the Brown family helped her and her sisters after their mother died. She became a foster mother to many children. Some of the children had been physically or sexually abused, some had drug addicted parents, and some had underage parents who left their children to be raised by grandparents.

Often the foster children were brought to her in the middle of the night, with little clothes on and their few, if any, belongings stuffed in a paper or plastic bag. Carrie accepted, fed, loved, and cared for all of the children brought to her. With advancing age and waning eyesight, Carrie gave up foster parenting with the exception of one child, Tracy. She had cared for Tracy from 4 years of age until she was out of high school. She loved Tracy as her own daughter and regretted that New York City practice did not permit adoption by single women, at the time.

Carrie continued hosting her birthday parties up into her 80’s. She attended Plymouth Congregational Church faithfully, enjoyed gardening in her backyard and was an avid reader of the daily paper and magazines. She continued to take her daily walks until she was no longer able to. As a passenger in a taxicab, Carrie sustained broken bones and was hospitalized for over a month. After recovery and therapy but with failing eyesight, Carrie resumed her daily walks. During one of those walks to the store, she was struck by a car backing out of a driveway. After recovering, Carrie became hesitant to walk alone and refrained from going out. Sadly, Carrie was robbed of her eyesight by Glaucoma and began a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. In her remaining years, Carrie was lovingly cared for, in her home, by her daughter Linda, son Donald, and grandson Prince, in addition to her home attendants Sylvia and Nicole. As she succumbed to complications from the COVID-19 virus, the Lord called her home on April 2, 2020.