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,”…