Member Profiles - George Lewis (by Reed Stone)

print this page

Rotary Profile:  George Lewis

We see him most every Friday morning, sitting in the same seat, at the same table next to Tom Perkins, drinking coffee from his personal ceramic coffee cup with his gimme cap of the week in the middle of the table, and saluting during the Pledge of Allegiance.  He is one of our most beloved members, George Orin Lewis. This is his life’s story.

George was born at home in Gordon, NE, on 10 Mar, 1928, the son of a farmer.  His mother’s sister married his father’s brother – two sisters married two brothers!  George was the oldest of five siblings, and  the extended family would enjoy 14 double first cousins.  At the age of six, George made the first of many lifetime moves to another small NE town, Valentine.  Three years later his family moved to Rayville, MO, where George attended a one-room school, and earned $5.00 per month being the janitor.  George completed eighth grade and was valedictorian, voted most popular, and most likely to succeed.  I suppose I should add he was the only eighth grade student in his class.  At the age of 14 the family moved back to Gordon, where George’s father died shortly thereafter. 

George completed high school in 1946 and, the day after graduation, enlisted in the Army Air Corps.  After basic training in San Antonio, George was assigned to Lowry AFB in Denver, CO.  Six months later, taking advantage of a general reduction in force, George would leave the Army.  The G I Bill helped see George through college at Chadron State Teachers College in Chadron, NE, where he earned a pre-med degree in 3 ½ years.  George knew from the third grade that he would be a doctor someday.  In 1947 George married Margaret Monkman.  They would have four children, two boys and two girls, before divorcing in 1962.  While in college, George worked for a doctor who encouraged him to apply to Northwestern University in Chicago.  Northwestern was then, as now, one of the most prestigious colleges in the mid west.  George graduated Northwestern University Medical School in 1954 and, after one year as a resident in Toledo OH, he started a solo medical practice in Broken Bow, NE, where he remained for 3 years.

In 1958, George began his Air Force career, accepting a commission as a captain and a medical specialty as a flight surgeon.  His first assignment

was Myrtle Beach AFB, SC, where helasted all of6 months before going to UC Berkley to obtain a masters degree in preventive medicine.  After Berkley, George would have assignmentsin San Antonio, TX (60-61), CA (61-62), and Langley AFB, VA (62-65).  At Langley AFB George met and married Billie Hobart in 1965.  (Billie’s daughter, also named Billie,married our own Jerry McCulley in 1973.)  Then it was north to Alaska in 1965 for George and Billie.  It was in AK that George had his most memorable flight, in a CH-21 helicopter.  Mechanical failure in flight resulted in a pancake landing (crash) on a frozen river in Dec. 1967.  Fortunately no one was seriously injured. In 1968, George and Billie moved again, to Wichita, KS (68-70) where he had his first hospital commander assignment.  Then it was back to Myrtle Beach AFB (70-72),

followed by a move back to Langley (72-76).  Next came assignments to Clovis NM (76-77), and Forth Worth (77-78), where he retired in the grade of colonel.  Hey, is it looking like George can’t hold a job?  I count ten assignments in a 20-year military career!

After retiring from the AF, George worked for a short time in Houston, giving flight physicals to civilians for pilot licenses.  Then in 1980 George moved to Austin, strictly for personal reasons.  But settling down in one city was no excuse to stop moving!  George and Billie lived in seven (!!) houses in Austin between 1980 and 2007.  Billie died in 2005, and in 2007 George married Martha (Marty) Casper.  He and Marty recently moved to their new home in Onion Creek.  This makes a total of 20 different homes between the years 1954 and 2008.

George enjoyed a 16-year second career as an examiner of medical residency programs throughout the US.  His title was Field Representative for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, sponsored by the AMA.  He would leave Austin on a Monday, visit three residency programs, write reports, and return to Austin on Thursday in time to make the Friday NWAR meeting.  Upon arrival at a residency program, George would say, “I’m here to help you.”  To which the doctor in charge would reply, “We’re glad to see you.”  I suspect both statements pushed the 1^st Rotary Four Way Test just a bit.

George joined his first Rotary club in Clovis, NM, in 1975.  He joined NWAR in 1981.  During his days as a residency program examiner he wore his Rotary pin faithfully, which resulted in being invited to Rotary meetings most every week.  George gives us all a great example of what it means to be a good Rotarian.  He has 26 years of perfect attendance.  He is a Paul Harris Fellow ten times over.  He attends most District 5870 functions, and attended two Rotary International Conferences - Birmingham England in 1985 and San Antonio in 2004.  He was club president 1999-2000, and is a charter member of District 5870 White Hat Society for Rotarians who give a minimum of $1000 a year to the Rotary Foundation.  But George is probably best known within NWAR for his fruit sales.  Every year he blows by par about ten times over.  Having George on your team means never hearing “Bottom of the Bird Cage” directed your way.

It has been my great pleasure to know George the past 25 years and I consider him one of my best friends.  I’m also the guy who sits on the other side of George from Tom Perkins every Friday morning.

Reed Stone