Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Jr., founder of the popular multi-million dollar MMA clothing line and television show TapouT, will be honored this morning (Tuesday, April 14) in a memorial service held at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
The service "Simply Believe: A Celebration of Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Jr." begins at 11am and is open to the public.
If you are planning on attending the services please RSVP to memorial@TapouT.com prior to arriving.
Public access parking is available through Gates 1 and 2 on Chapman Ave and Gate 3 on Lewis Street. Cathedral doors open at 10:00 AM. Cameras and video equipment are not permitted inside the cathedral.
Lewis, 45, was killed on the morning of March 11 when his Ferrari collided with a Porsche driven by Jeffrey David Kirby of Costa Mesa. Kirby has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and is facing a possible sentence of more than 19 years if convicted. He’s currently being held on $500,000 bail.
TapouT was launched in 1997, with nothing more than a vision and a handful of merchandise — and enough gas in their van to follow fighters across the state of California to promote and sell TapouT clothing.
Now his empire, along with Dan "Punkass" Caldwell and Timothy "Skyskrape" Katz, includes a reality TV show, a line of bottled water, an impressive stable of mixed-martial-arts fighters and of course its massive clothing line, which went from a few thousand dollars in sales back in the late 90’s to over $100 million in 2008.
In lieu of flowers, TapouT asks that you contribute to the Charles "Mask" Lewis, Jr. memorial fund. Information on the fund will be available at TapouT.com the week of April 19th.