The serendipitous final romance of Statler Brothers tenor Lew DeWitt

Sweatband-sporting, acoustic guitar-wielding Lew DeWitt and wife Judy Wells survey their scenic 50-acre farm in Waynesboro, Virginia, in an outtake from the 1984 cover shoot for the earthy singer-songwriter’s debut solo album “Here to Stay.” Named after Barney Fife’s steady girl, a friend gave Thelma Lou the part-Doberman dog to the couple when she was a couple of months old. Thelma Lou survived the founding Statler Brother’s 1990 death from Crohn’s disease by four years. Photo courtesy of Judy Wells DeWitt

“Lew DeWitt was a very humble man who made it big and never understood how or why.” At last the original Statler Brother’s widow Judy Wells breaks her silence to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Country Music Hall of Famer’s passing from the tortuous Crohn’s disease at age 52 on August 15, 1990. The haunting high tenor-voiced guitarist wrote “Flowers on the Wall,” whose combined YouTube views exceed 12 million. He shared a stage with Johnny Cash for eight years, was covered by Waylon Jennings [“I Tremble for You”],” and loved B-westerns wholeheartedly. Wells is a former newspaper columnist and school superintendent’s secretary whose resilience and sense of humor kept DeWitt contented for the final 11 years of his existence. An undemanding country girl from Virginia, Wells was not enamored with music. When DeWitt learned that his future flame did not compose songs or poetry, he retorted, “Thank God.”

The Judy Wells DeWitt Interview

How did you meet Lew?

The Statler Brothers started out singing gospel as the Kingsmen. My neighbor Joe McDorman was originally with them [bassist Harold Reid’s younger brother and future lead singer Donnie was my age and still in school]. They rehearsed at the McDorman’s home in Lyndhurst, Virginia, on Sunday afternoons. I…