Muriel Lewis, Wife of County’s Auditor-Controller, Dies at 52

Muriel Lewis, the wife of Orange County Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis, died early Wednesday of complications from recent heart bypass surgery. She was 52.

In the past few years, Muriel Lewis of Irvine had suffered from poor health. She had undergone a second kidney transplant after her body rejected the first one, which was donated by the couple’s daughter.

Friends remembered her Wednesday as supportive and kind throughout her health setbacks and husband’s demanding career.

“She’s a very special person,” County Clerk-Recorder Gary L. Granville said. “She was very well liked and well thought of.”

County Public Administrator William A. Baker, who had known the couple since 1968, said, “She was just a wonderful lady, . . . absolutely, outstandingly nice. Very easy to know and get along with.”

Said Charles Hulse, the county’s chief deputy auditor-controller: “She was very supportive of her husband in his official capacity, and was his strength and inspiration.”

Muriel Lewis was active in her Irvine church, Hulse said. Before her health began failing, she enjoyed gardening and golfing.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by two children, Karen and Robert; and a brother and sister.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be sent to local chapters of the American Diabetes Assn. or the National Kidney Foundation.