On Dec. 2, the New Rochelle community turned out for a candlelight vigil at Lincoln Park to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of Antoine Lewis Jr., a 2015 graduate of New Rochelle High School, who died on Nov. 30.
Hundreds of well-wishers packed the basketball court at the Lincoln Avenue location to pay their respects to Lewis, 23. Those who knew him best remembered Lewis as an engaging, warm and driven young man.
The cause of Lewis’ death has not yet been made public.
“He never left nobody behind, if you were hurting, he was hurting,” said his father, Antoine Sr. “If you love Antoine, I’m asking you, from this day forward, in all your endeavors, your goals, your aspirations, live for it, go for it, no excuses.”
A former basketball standout for the Huguenots, Lewis would go on to play collegiately at Monroe College in New Rochelle before transferring to Allegany College of Maryland and eventually landing at Division II West Chester University, Pa., where he was also a member of the basketball team.
He was on track to graduate in the spring.
Former teammates from New Rochelle, West Chester and Monroe all noted that Lewis’ talents on the court were surpassed only by his extraordinary work ethic.
“He gave his all to everything, he stayed in his books and if it was raining, he put up shots in the rain,” Lewis Sr. said. “He didn’t care about how far he had to travel to work out, he was there.”
New Rochelle Sports Hall of Fame inductee and former head Huguenots varsity coach Nat Harris was on hand for the ceremony and cited Lewis’ infectious personality and the resilience of the tight-knit New Rochelle community as positives that could be mined from the tragedy.
“Look around, this is not a 75-degree summer night, this is a cold, going-on-winter night and look at the love,” Harris said. “New Rochelle is strong.”
In the week since his death, Antoine’s teammates at West Chester University have set up a GoFundMe page to assist the Lewis family with funeral expenses. As of press time, 343 individual donors have stepped forward, raising more than $20,000.
According to Lewis’ younger sibling Jordan, the community response so far has been a testament to the life his older brother had lived.
“No matter how far you came, how close you were, I just want to thank you,” he said. “It just shows that [Antoine] touched a piece of everybody.”
