Seffner man releases doves at weddings, funerals

By Belinda Kramer, Times Correspondent
In Print: Friday, July 17, 2009

SEFFNER

At Larry Cornwell's funeral, the rock song Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd played as he had requested.

"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? I must be traveling on now because there's too many places I've got to see. But if I stayed here with you, girl, things just couldn't be the same. Cause I'm as free as a bird now…"

Nearby, his widow, Judy, held a dove. She kissed it and sent it flying. His daughter Jennifer also released a dove followed by a final flurry of 12 birds that majestically circled and flew until they were out of sight.

"It was a final way of saying goodbye," Judy Cornwell said.

Jerry Lewis is the man behind the doves. Lewis, 62, releases doves at all kinds of special events, including funerals and weddings. Sometimes, he donates dove releases to honor fallen veterans. He sent doves skyward at the April dedication of the Confederate Flag park at Interstates 4 and 75.

Although Lewis does the releases for commercial gain — he charges $100 to $250 for his services — he also wants to leave ceremony observers with a peaceful scene they won't forget.

"When funeral directors have surveyed what most people remember about the ceremony, 95 percent of the time it's the doves," Lewis said.

Lewis grew up in Detroit and remembers always being surrounded by birds.

"We always had a parakeet in the house," said Lewis, the third of nine children born to a homemaker and a steelworker.

Lewis credits his introduction to the dove-release business to a friend, Pete Burrage, an embalmer who had his own dove release business. Lewis often assisted him. Earlier this spring, he decided to launch a business when his friend moved away.

Ever the multifaceted entrepreneur, Lewis also owns a custom silk-screening business, is a merchant captain licensed by the Coast Guard, and is an accomplished saxophone and keyboard player and songwriter.

Many years ago when he worked as a professional musician in Tampa, he played with Jerry Lee Lewis and wrote songs for wrestling matches. These days, he rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and tends to an aviary that houses his 65 doves.

Lewis says it takes about four months to train a dove. He starts working with them when they are about 6 weeks old. Then, he releases them from their aviary for the first time. He takes care to make sure the initial release is made from the site where the birds will always return.

"They're just like the salmon that have that inborn instinct to get back home," Lewis said.

After ceremonies, when the birds disappear into the air, they are actually beginning their commute to Lewis' home in Seffner. They have flown to Seffner from distances as far as Rocky Point, where a couple showcased them in their wedding, and Bushnell, where they were released for a soldier's funeral. When they don't make it home, Lewis said, it's usually because of a hawk attack, an ever-present danger.

"Nine times out of 10, they beat me home," Lewis said.

The doves were spiritually significant to Carla Dever, who buried her mother last year.

"At the end of my mother's funeral service my sisters and I released doves," Dever said. "I thought it was beautiful and symbolized her spirit being freed and passing into heaven. It was the most peaceful, comforting feeling."

Lewis, who estimates he has facilitated more than 300 dove releases over the years, has also had some unusual requests. One couple requested doves for their wedding and then later wanted them back for their divorce.

"They didn't make it even six months. I did the wedding, her divorce party, then his."

Times Researcher John Martin contributed to this report.