Longtime Oakdale resident, Wendy Lee Lewandowski, wife of Larry Lewandowski and widow of A.C. Rist, died in Redding, CA on December 17, 2025 of complications from a long illness with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Born on June 26, 1940, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Russell and Lois Miller, Wendy was the oldest daughter of three girls. Wendy grew up loving and riding horses, Gypsy, being her most beloved.
Wendy’s father owned Miller Finance where she learned a strong work ethic while working at her father’s office. From her mother, Wendy developed a love for travel and adventure. Many fond childhood memories came from traveling to visit extended family at their cabin in Wyoming and Wendy parlayed that love of travel into the fabric of her life. Visiting places like Europe and later driving through Central America to the Panama Canal with her mother and sisters and even living in Japan where she modeled, at 21, for a Japanese magazine. When she returned from Japan, she worked as a journalist with the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, while earning a B.A. degree at Westminster College. After graduating, Wendy set out on a year-long adventure, traveling around the world with her sisters. They visited and stayed in many countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. On her return, Wendy started a successful property management company, in Boise, that also helped renters find homes. While still single, Wendy sought out and bought property in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho to enjoy a quiet place of retreat and solitude.
In September 1978, Wendy married A.C. With three new stepsons, Erik, David and Michael (ages 11-15), her family grew immediately. In 1980, Wendy and A.C. welcomed their daughter, Joy, into their family and they ultimately moved to Oakdale, CA, where A.C. and Wendy lived until A.C.’s death in 2004. During their nearly 26 years of marriage, they enjoyed trips to Australia, New Zealand, China, Greece, and the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA. Also, time away to what became known as “the Idaho cabin” in the mountains were always cherished times spent together. During these years, Wendy’s faith deepened and she attended Bible Studies and Evangelism Explosion seminars. While practicing the Evangelism Explosion technique on her daughter, the Lord blessed her efforts and brought Joy to saving faith in Christ. Together, Wendy and A.C. belonged to a marriage enrichment ministry where they developed lifelong, abiding friendships. Since Wendy was not one to let the grass grow under her feet as she aged, she summited Mt. Shasta for her 50th birthday and hiked the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park thereafter. Her 60th birthday was spent hiking Mt. Olympus and her 70th birthday was celebrated trekking Mt. Lassen while also making core memories with her extended family.
In 2012, Wendy reconnected with Larry of “Larry and Alice,” who were couple-friends from their days in the marriage encounter ministry. Larry, a widower, and Wendy married the following year. Together, they traveled to Poland, Spain and France and continued to enjoy summers at the Idaho cabin. They lived in Oakdale for nearly four years before moving to Redding, in 2017, where their remaining years together were filled with many dinners and celebrations with family who lived nearby, and cheering on their many grandchildren at all sorts of sporting and school events.
Wendy passed into the arms of her Lord and Savior on December 17, 2025 with her loving husband, Larry, keeping vigil by her side. She is remembered as a prayer warrior whose example pointed others to Jesus and His Word.
Wendy is preceded in death by her husband, A.C. Rist, and survived by:
her husband, Larry Lewandowski; her sisters: MyrleAnn (Newell) Bossart and Dr. Susan Miller (Dr. Lonnie Chipman); her daughter, Joy (Kyle) Goodman and their children Molly, Darren and Tucker; her stepsons Eric (Bridgette) Rist and their children Elizabeth (Sam Sedwick) and Bradley, David Rist, Michael (Mary) Rist and their children Anthony, Nate and Josh, and Ben Lewandowski and his children Tina Hampton and her son Isaiah, Sandy (Nathan) Hull and their children Kira, Dominic, Evan and Eliyanah, and Daniel (Tiffany) Lewandowski; her stepdaughter Leigh (Rod) Harmelink and their children Melissa (Levi) and their children Emily Sanchez and Kate, Crystal (Allen) Buckley and their children Ella, Ava and Luke, and Elizabeth (Jon) Silva and their children Daniel, Benjamin and Quinn.
A memorial will be held in the Sawtooth Mountains in June for family and friends who are able to come.
The Oakdale (Calif.) Leader
The Riverbank (Calif.) News
March 4, 2026
