'A dignified gentleman': Memphis businessman Jack Lewis dies at 97

This story has been updated to correct the address of where funeral services will be held.

Jack Lewis, the Memphis businessman and beloved community figure, died Thursday. He was 97.

Lewis was the longtime owner of the Julius Lewis department stores. The family business was founded in Memphis in the late 1800s and at one time included four stores across the city, including a location on Main Street.

His daughter, Georgi Davis, described Lewis as a man devoted to his family and his work.

“He was just a wonderful human being,” she said. “A sweet person. He adored my mother…never a cross word between them. He adored his children.”

Davis also described her father as “a dignified gentleman.”

“Even up until a few months ago, and weeks ago… he would be dressed to the nines,” she said.

The love of fashion may have stemmed from the family business. His grandfather, Moses Lewis, founded what would become the chain of four Julius Lewis department stores, expanded upon by Moses’ son Julius Lewis and then Julius’ son Jack Lewis.

“He loved the business. He loved the customers. He loved the people,” Davis said. “It was just… it was his passion.”

The business started to come under hard times in the mid-1980s, she said, and eventually fell victim to the same economic forces that have faced many locally-owned retailers in recent decades. No Julius Lewis stores remain in Memphis.

“But he loved what he did. And he was generous to a fault,” Davis said. “He was so very well respected and cared about the people who had worked for him for so many years. And he remained friends with them. And there's no one who could say a bad thing about my father.”

An Army veteran, Lewis served in World War II in multiple arenas, including China and India, among other theaters of battle. He married his wife Nicole, a Holocaust survivor from Belgium, in 1964. The two traveled the world together, including visits to Nicole’s family who remained in Europe.

In Memphis, even after he exited the business world, Davis said there was nowhere her father could go that he didn’t know someone. And whenever anyone from the extended family would come to town, they would visit Jack and Nicole without question, Davis said.

Greg Belz’s grandfather and Lewis’ father were cousins. While they weren’t closely related, Belz said the families were close. He said he was always proud to be related to Lewis.

“He was just the loveliest, most gentlemanly person that I've ever met,” Belz said.

Lewis is survived by Davis, his wife, Nicole, his son, Hal Lewis, his sister, Erma Cohen, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His son Charles Lewis and two sisters preceded him in death.

Funeral services will be held Monday at 3 p.m. at Baron Hirsch Cemetery 1499 Rozelle St. in Memphis.

Corinne S Kennedy covers economic development and healthcare for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Jack Lewis, owner of Julius Lewis department stores, dies at 97