Julius Curtis Lewis Jr.: Difference between revisions

Julius Curtis Lewis, Jr. (March 11, 1926 – August 20, 2005) was a businessman, philanthropist and Chairman of J.C. Lewis Enterprises, Lewis Broadcasting Corporation, and Island Investments. He served as Mayor of Savannah in the late 1960's as a Republican. From the 1940s to 2005, Lewis developed a sizable business empire: including automobile dealerships and media outlets throughout the southeast, including both a TV and radio station bearing his initials - WJCL-TV, and WJCL-FM in Savannah, Georgia and a large commercial real estate portfolio including numerous shopping centers and tracts of mixed use properties throughout the Savannah area--and Green Island, a barrier island located on the coast of Georgia. His automotive interests included: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, and Saab franchises in Savannah, Georgia, Daytona Beach and Melbourne, Florida. His broadcast properties included: ABC 22 WJCL-TV and FOX 28 WTGS-TV in Savannah, Georgia , NBC 38 WLTZ-TV in Columbus, Georgia, CBS 19 WLTX-TV in Columbia, South Carolina and Country Western format radio station in Savannah, Georgia and classic rock formated stations in Jackson, and Vicksburg, Mississippi and Columbia, South Carolina. Lewis was instrumental in developing the southside of Savannah along Abercorn Street. He played a pivotal role in the revitalization of the city's River Street and was one of the State's greatest Philanthropists While Mayor he was directly responsible for the construction of Savannah Civic Center, and the Planning of the Harry S. Truman Parkway.

The philanthropist and businessman was one of Savannah's leading figures in the 20th century.

Long before the term compassionate conservative entered our vocabulary, J. Curtis Lewis was its face. An enormously successful businessman, Mr. Lewis's foundation was the Ford dealership he inherited at age 16 when his father died.

"He had been very successful in just about all endeavors that he's done," explained television executive J. Fred Pierce, "from automotive, broadcasting, real estate, motels."

"I think he's done so much for the community," said friend, Dan Vaden. "He's not only given property and money; he's given his time to help the less fortunate."

His leadership skills led him from business to politics where he became, in 1966, the first Republican mayor of a Georgia city since Reconstruction. He defeated the incumbent Democrat Malcolm Maclean, but recognized the good even in a political adversary.

"He saw us through very tumultuous times and racial unrest," J.C. Lewis remarked in a 2002 interview with WTOC. "I have to say, he did an excellent, excellent job of handling that in a peaceful, intelligent and fair manner."

Neither politics nor business are the legacy of Mr. Lewis, though he was spectacularly successful at both. It was what he did with his wealth and influence that will carry his name to generations yet unborn.

"When you boil J.C. Lewis down to his fundamental core, he is a man who believes in God," said Michael Elliott, with Savannah's Union Mission, "and a man who believes that he is to do certain things on behalf of God. Helping the poor is his principal way of living out his convictions and his relationship with his God."

J. Curtis Lewis was 79 years old.

Mr. Lewis showed his generosity a month before his death in August at the dedication of the 24 million dollar Nancy and J.C. Lewis Cancer and Research Facility at St. Joseph's/Candler. It was his last public appearance.

Reported by: Craig Harney, charney@wtoc.com

Lewis ran for Mayor of Savannah in 1966.

Even though he did not exploit the racial issues, he benefited from a backlash from White voters against Democratic incumbent Malcolm Maclean. Many White segregationists considered that Maclean was too soft on matters dealing with race. "He served a productive four years. His administration instituted the then-popular Model Cities Program, a federally funded effort to improve blighted neighborhoods and erase neglect. The Savannah Civic Center and sewerage treatment plant got boosts during his term. He also hired the city's first black department head, retired Army Lt. Col. Tom Sears, whose daughter, Leah Ward Sears, now serves as chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court." ibid

As a result, Lewis and his entire slate of six Republican aldermanic candidates were elected to City Hall. ^[1]

After four-years in office though, they were all defeated.

Democratic nominee John Rousakis succeeded Lewis in 1970. ^[2]

In the early 1960's, J.C. Lewis, Jr., a former YMCA president, donated 8.5 acres of land on South Habersham Street and went on to lead the 1964 capital funds campaign. The result of those generous efforts on the part of Mr. Lewis, as well as Frank S. Cheatham, Robert H. Demere, W.W. Sprague, Jr., and many others was the YMCA Family Center on Habersham (now known as the Habersham Branch YMCA).

In 1929 the general aviation committee of the Savannah City Council recommended that the 730 acre (3 km²) Belmont Tract, belonging to Mr. Lewis' father, J. C. Lewis, be accepted by the Council as the future site of the Savannah Municipal Airport now known as Hunter Army Airfield.

Lewis previously owned the land where the Oglethrope mall and surrounding shopping areas now exist.

A member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. Active on the Board of the Kiwanis Club; on the Bethesda Orphanage, on the Board of Directors; the Georgia Baptist Children's Home; Woodberry Forest School Board of Trustees; the President of the YMCA of the Coastal Empire; the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; the United Community Appeal or United Way; The Savannah Country Day School, Board of Directors; Citizens and Southern Bank or Bank of America, Board of Directors; Savannah Foods, Board of Directors; Association of the United States Army, President, Coastal Empire Chapter; the Elks Club, Lodge 183; American Legion, Post 184; the Navy League; Salvation Army as an Honorary Director. The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum Foundation; and many more.

His awards, A Brotherhood Award from Agudath Achim Synagogue, the President's Award from Savannah State College, Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Georgia; Union Mission, Golden Heart Award; Community Service Award from the Georgia Municipal Association; United States Army Award for patriotic civilian service while serving as President of the AUSA, Coastal Empire Chapter; Salvation Army, ``Others Award; Savannah Exchange Club, Golden Deeds Award; the Rotary Club, Paul Harris Fellow; The Oglethorpe Leadership Award; a two-time recipient of the Ben Franklin Quality Dealer Award sponsored by Time Magazine; and also an inductee in the Savannah Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement. In 1957, he served as Chairman of, Georiga Automobile Dealers Association. The local Chatham County Republican Party named their annual award in his honor, the J.C. Lewis Award.

Editorial from Savannah Morning News A nice guy who finished first

They say that funerals are for the living, not the deceased. That's probably true 99 percent of the time.

Here's one that falls in the other 1 percent - this week's send-off for former mayor J. Curtis Lewis Jr.

His funeral was for the living AND the deceased.

That's the best explanation for the huge crowd that turned out Monday for the visitation at Fox & Weeks Funeral Home's Hodgson Chapel for this decent and kind man, who died Saturday at the age of 79.

He may have served as Savannah's mayor for four years, which automatically qualified him for a political Purple Heart in this rough-and-tumble city.

But dozens can claim that distinction.

More significantly, this private citizen-philanthropist left positive impressions on Savannah that will last longer than most politicians' shallow imprints.

The numbers speak for themselves.

An estimated 2,500 people waited patiently Monday for more than two hours in a line that snaked outside the funeral home for the opportunity to pay their respects to Nancy Lewis, Lewis's gracious wife, and the couple's six grown children.

But the crowd gathered for another reason - to honor a selfless, generous soul who did so much for so many worthy organizations and people, and who cared not a whit about credit.

Lewis didn't just consider charity its own reward. It was a calling.

He was a super-successful businessman who not only did well in auto sales, broadcasting and real estate. He also did good.

The line outside the funeral home was a city in miniature, a cross-section of people who make this town tick. Wrench-turners from Lewis's Ford dealership, a family institution, rubbed elbows with millionaires. Doctors and lawyers shared personal space (tough to do in oppressive heat and humidity) with sales people, clerks, secretaries and other working stiffs.

There were blue bloods and regular unleaded bloods.

Mayor Otis Johnson came. So did a homeless woman.

"I looked up at one point and saw a city worker, a man who was worth millions of dollars and a mechanic," said Jim Weeks, whose family-run funeral home did a splendid job coping with the large turnout - and even brought out a cooler full of bottled water and plopped it in the center of the carport, to help people hydrate and wait at the same time.

"It was truly remarkable, and by far the largest crowd we've ever had," Weeks said. "It was quite a tribute to the family."

It was nice tribute to Savannah as well. It proved people here know class when they see it.

Let's face it. Many of today's new-school politicians and corporate leaders care mostly about bottom lines, not life lines that bind communities and make them whole. That doesn't make them bad people with tin hearts. It just makes them single-minded and superficial.

And, occasionally, first-class jerks.

Lewis was the anti-Atilla. He showed that nice guys can do more than finish first in the daily rat race. Sometimes, they get the girl, have great kids, give up time to serve in public office, contribute to worthy causes and have thousands of people from all walks of life mourn their passing.

Not everyone who has amassed fortunes or built political careers can say that.

One native son who was waiting in line Monday compared Lewis and media mogul Ted Turner. Both men were Savannahians and near-contemporaries. Both took family-run businesses and made them bigger and more successful.

But while Turner left this city and never looked back, Lewis didn't leave, and he never looked elsewhere.

This week, Savannah showed it was thankful he didn't.

Tom Barton is the editorial page editor of the Morning News. His e-mail address is tom.barton@savannahnow.com.

Editorial Web posted Sunday, August 21, 2005

Lewis: A class act

HE WAS called Savannah's reluctant mayor. But that description is a compliment, because J. Curtis Lewis Jr. was no glad-handing politician, and he had an ego the size of a pea.

More accurately, Mr. Lewis, who died early Saturday at Candler Hospital at the age of 79 after a long bout with leukemia, was a class act who touched Savannah in many positive, lasting ways. The Savannah native, longtime business leader and philanthropist was living proof that southern gentlemen exist, and they leave permanent imprints on the people around them.

Born in 1926, Mr. Lewis was the son of the man who opened Savannah's first Ford dealership. For Mr. Lewis's father, selling Fords was a big risk. He left a good job with the Packard dealership to sell Henry Ford's products, and there was no guarantee motorists here would buy them. Today, of course, most Packards are parked in car museums, and Fords crowd the roads with other makes.

Mr. Lewis was still in college when his father died. But instead of returning home and taking care of the family's business, he left matters in the capable hands of the dealership's staff and completed his education. Such loyalty and trust were deeply rooted in his character, traits that would serve him well throughout his life.

And so would his sharp business acumen. Mr. Lewis, once he returned home, jumped into capitalism with both feet. He diversified the family business, opened dealerships elsewhere, established the city's third television station (WJCL-TV) and started TV and radio stations in several other southern cities. He established corporations that looked for other investment opportunities, including land and real estate. And he mixed business with integrity.

For example, Mr. Lewis sold Dan Vaden, owner of the Dan Vaden Chevrolet dealership for 38 years, the land on Abercorn Extension on which Mr. Vaden's business sits. The Ford man and the Chevy man, while stiff competitors, became fast friends.

Mr. Lewis turned down overtures to run for mayor in 1962, but gave in to intense pressure in 1966. He defeated then-incumbent Mayor Malcolm Maclean, a Democrat who worked with white business leaders and black civil rights advocates during the 1960s to peacefully desegregate public facilities and institutions. Mr. Lewis benefitted from white backlash against Mr. Maclean, but he was no rabble-rouser. Indeed, one of his biggest selling points was his reputation - an honest, hard-working businessman who was active in his church (First Baptist) and an upright family man. Plus, there was public sentiment for change. Mr. Lewis had timing on his side, and he became Savannah's first Republican mayor.

One revealing story of that election, which former Savannah Morning News editor Tom Coffey recounts in his book, "Savannah Lore and More," involves a political operative who approached Mr. Lewis and asked for $4,000. The money was to "guarantee" a certain bloc of votes. Coffey writes: "In telling the story, Lewis said he was told he could put up the money and 'no one would have to know.' To which, he related, his reply was, 'But I would know, and it would be wrong to buy votes.'"

He served a productive four years. His administration instituted the then-popular Model Cities program, a federally funded effort to improve blighted neighborhoods and erase neglect. The Savannah Civic Center and sewerage treatment plant got boosts during his term. He also hired the city's first black department head, retired Army Lt. Col. Tom Sears, whose daughter, Leah Ward Sears, now serves as chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

Mr. Lewis lost his re-election bid to Democrat John Rousakis, who would become the city's longest-serving mayor. But if defeat bothered Mr. Lewis, he didn't show it. He simply had more time to focus on his business empire, and, in later years, his true passion in life - helping others.

His contributions (land, buildings, money) to charitable, religious, civic, medical, cultural and other philanthropic efforts are the stuff of local legend. Listing them here would be futile, but not just because there are too many. Rather, many were handled quietly and away from the spotlight.

Again, his ego was minuscule. But his heart was as big as they come.

And his devotion to his family claimed a large part of his life as well. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and six children.

--> In 2005, a Pavilion of local St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital was renamed to honor Lewis.[2] ^[3]

--> In 2003, S. 1671[3] was passed: A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 10701 Abercorn Street in Savannah, Georgia, as the “J.C. Lewis, Jr., Post Office Building.” ^[4]

• Mayor's official site