Tom B. Lewis known for neat yard, sharp looks, big heart

Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 1, 2009

Not all of the beneficiaries of Tom B. Lewis’ generosity will be present this afternoon when the longtime Marcus Bottom resident celebrates his 100th birthday at Battlefield Inn.

Some, such as neighbors whose yards he has tended, are dead. And the inn’s management might frown upon admitting others, like the stray cats and dog he insists upon feeding from the back door of the Military Avenue house in which he’s lived since 1930. 

But the party itself was the idea of one of the recipients of Lewis’ largesse. Jerry Lewis Smith, whom Lewis and his late wife adopted as a 5-year-old, organized the function and is to drive to Vicksburg early this morning from her home in Destrehan, La., to help supervise it.

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Smith said that Lewis and wife Jessie Mae were originally planning to adopt an infant child, but were convinced by a social worker in 1964 to adopt her. Smith said her gratitude for the choice is reflected in her career — she’s a social worker who heads up the child welfare and attendance department for St. Charles Parish’s public school system. “It’s no wonder why,” she said.

Lewis, who had a biological son, Tom Henry Lewis, by a previous marriage, also adopted Jessie Mae’s two children, Geneva Lewis Dorsey and Bobby Lewis Sr., and reared an additional child, Michael Coleman.

“I like to help people,” Lewis said when asked this week about the adoptions. “Always have.”

Today, according to Smith, her father’s family includes 11 grandchildren, as well as numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. 

“We’re all his family, though,” Smith said, “no matter whether the relation is — biological or otherwise.”

And Lewis has never limited acts of kindness to kin.

According to Lucia Hawkins, his friend of nearly two decades, Lewis has regularly cut the yards of several of his neighbors, as well as plots at Beulah Cemetery. The weed trimmer he employs for the work is a reminder of the technological advances that have taken place since Lewis’ first job, in which he cut grass at the Vicksburg National Military Park by piloting a mule hitched to a blade.

Lewis’ love of manicuring yards makes evident his kindness, as well as his love of order, Smith said.

“We’ll be riding along in the car sometimes, and he’ll say, ‘Look at that messy yard!  Why don’t they keep that up better? That’s a shame!’” said Smith. 

Lewis is as fastidious about his own appearance as he is about keeping a neat yard, Hawkins said. She said that Lewis, who worked for 60 years “stacking wood” for Anderson-Tully, used to walk to the company’s Waltersville facility from his family’s Beechwood home in a suit, change into laborer’s clothes at the site and then walk back home in the suit when work was done. His knack for fine dress hasn’t faded with time, she said.

“He loves Stacy Adams shoes,” she said. “He always puts them back in the box they came in when he takes them off.”

“The characteristics that impress me the most about my father have to do with the pride he has about the way he carries himself,” Smith said. “He is a strong, proud man.”

Smith said that Lewis’ pride has motivated him to refuse all invitations to move from his home or accept in-home care.  Hawkins helped him fill out his application for Social Security benefits, and she routinely helps him cook and shop for groceries.

For now, that’s as far as he will go toward assisted living. “I ain’t got the step like I used to,” he said this week, “but I can still get around when I need to.”

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Contact Ben Bryant at bbryant@vicksburgpost.com