Frank Davis Lewis

Frank Davis Lewis, 95, of Tallahassee, Florida died at Westminster Oaks peacefully February 4, 2017, surrounded by his family. Frank was born to George Edward Lewis and Sarah Davis Lewis on December 20, 1921 in Tallahassee, Florida, the fifth of eight children. An avid outdoorsman, Frank enjoyed hunting and fishing with family and friends, and was an Eagle Scout like his four brothers and one sister. Frank was extremely proud of his family and heritage here in Tallahassee. Raised in the Lewis State Bank family, Frank broke with tradition to pursue his love of airplanes. While attending Leon High School, Frank took flying lessons from his neighbor, Ivan Munroe, for whom our Tallahassee airport is named. Frank and his brothers were passionate pilots. He retold stories of flying their Great Lakes trainer bi-plane down the Apalachicola river and “rolling the tires in the water”, landing a seaplane many miles offshore of St Teresa and opening the cockpit doors so they could troll for kingfish out of the plane, then later landing and pulling the plane up on the beach at St. Teresa. He earned his undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering and later a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology. He was President of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Editor of the Georgia Tech Engineer, a member of the swim and diving team, and pole-vaulted on the track team. In 2003 he was inducted into the Georgia Tech Engineering Hall of Fame. Active in ROTC at Georgia Tech, he joined the Army and later transferred to the Air Force. He often laughed that, due to a delay in transfer orders, he was possibly the only poor soul to have to go through two different Officers Training Corps schools. Frank served in the Philippines and, later, was stationed in Japan after the surrender. Frank met his wife, Jean Chewning, while at Georgia Tech. Jean was attending Agnes Scott College, and both participated in operetta productions. They first met at practice, Jean playing the piano and Frank singing the lead. Sitting in the auditorium watching her play, he told himself, “I’m going to marry that girl.” After his military service, they married in Jenkins, Kentucky on June 12, 1948, lived in Tallahassee for nine years, then moved to Atlanta, Georgia where they raised their three children, Dave, Betsy, and Beecher. Frank worked for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation as a design engineer specializing in fluid dynamics and hydraulics, working on both the C5A and C141 cargo plane designs. They were members of Holy Innocents Episcopal Church. When Frank retired, they moved back to Florida to live at St. Teresa Beach, the place that helped formulate his early years and held some of his fondest memories, and a place he also instilled love for forever in the minds and hearts of his children and grandchildren. Frank and Jean were members of Church of the Ascension in Carrabelle. Frank used his engineering skills to renovate, repair and add to their beach home; He could fix anything. Neighbors often found him sitting on the top of the roof or in an Adirondack chair below the bluff, just enjoying his world. Frank was a loving son, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and brother, and he will be sorely missed, but very pleasantly and lovingly remembered. It will be impossible, for any of his family, not to see his loving grin or feel his presence every time they visit St. Teresa. Frank is survived by his three children, Frank Davis Lewis, Jr; Betsy Lewis Gruber (husband George Richard Gruber), and Beecher Chewning Lewis (wife Rene Best Lewis), grandchildren David Hurdle Gruber (wife Alex Maas Gruber and great-granddaughter Hayden Victoria Gruber), Frank Lewis Gruber, and George Lewis Gruber (wife Sarah Elizabeth Gruber and great-granddaughters Kinley Elizabeth Gruber and Avery Kate Gruber); and grandchildren Anna Haley Lewis and Beecher Best Lewis. He is also survived by sister Elizabeth (Betty) Lewis Harrison, brother William (Bill) Cheever Lewis, and sister-in-law Ellen Chewning Eller as well as many nieces and nephews. He is pre-deceased by his wife, parents, and five siblings: George Lewis II, Frances Lewis Rose, Jefferson Davis Lewis, Benjamin Cheever Lewis, and Sarah Lewis Marxsen. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, February 23rd at 11:00 am at St. Peter's Anglican Church, 4784 Thomasville Rd Tallahassee, FL. After the service, please join the family for lunch at Zbardhi's Italian Cuisine (behind Hurricane’s, Thomasville Rd). In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorial contributions be made to Big Bend Hospice, Tallahassee or your favorite charity. Susie Mozolic of Bevis Funeral Home is assisting the family with their arrangements. (www.bevisfh.com 850-385-2193)

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Frank Davis Lewis

December 20, 1921 - February 4, 2017