Friends and Family Remember: #LiveLikeHunter
Becoming an astronaut was a lifelong dream. But it wasn’t the only one.
At Monday’s Celebration of Life ceremony for Lewis in the VEC Quad, friends and family spoke of a long list of interests: everything from scuba diving, surfing, and skateboarding to Spiderman, videogames, and musical instruments.
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department Chair Jalal Torabzadeh said Lewis was in the top 25 percent of his class, with a 3.3 percent GPA. “He was a dedicated student with a true love for aerospace engineering,” said Torabzadeh. “He had very good prospects for becoming an outstanding engineer and making contributions to the industry.”
Lewis joined CSULB in Fall 2019. He became involved in the CSULB chapter of AIAA, and during the pandemic, learned to fly. Nathan Tung met Lewis after approaching him to be a subject for his documentary. “I hit him up on Snapchat and we met at Starbucks,” recalled Tung, whose documentary “Taking Flight with Hunter Lewis” can be found on YouTube.
Lewis drove up in his red Jeep, then asked Tung to wait 15 minutes so he could finish his homework. During the filming, they flew to Lone Pine and Santa Barbara. Although Tung said Lewis was usually “goofy,” he was serious when flying. “I felt really honored to be one of the few people to fly with him,” he said.
Flight instructor Peter Engler said Lewis was his favorite student. “I’ve had a lot of students, but he was definitely the most fun I ever had. I’ll never forget him.”
When Lewis moved in upstairs during the pandemic, Jerick LeBlanc didn’t initially like him. But soon, Lewis was coming over to his place for dinner, and spending time arguing over “DC vs. Marvel.” He promised to take LeBlanc flying when he returned to Long Beach from visiting his family in Humbolt County. But Lewis set out on his fateful canoe ride, never to return, before that promise could be kept.
Micki Vetrie said her son was always in a rush to do everything, reminding her of a shooting star. Born two weeks premature, he began to run almost as soon as he could walk. She said she had to work to not kill his dreams with her fears. “He wanted to do it all."
Lewis also met Kinsley Rolph during the pandemic. After meeting on a trip to Zion National Park with friends, the two became inseparable. “His whole life was an adventure. We packed a lot into one year and three months, and I was happy to have known him,” she said, adding that CSULB was a place where he could chase his dreams.
The turnout for Lewis’s Celebration of Life included Rolph, his parents, and dozens of classmates and friends. His father, Corey Lewis, said Hunter dreamed big. When Hunter paddled towards an island in Trinidad Bay to plant a clue for the family’s annual treasure hunt, his father thinks his son encountered a rough reef and his canoe capsized. “It is ironic that Hunter is the lost family treasure,” his father said.
