Dr. Ray B. Lewis
Ray Blaine Lewis M.D. died October 15, 2008 in Riverton, Wyoming. He was 91.
Dr. Lewis was born February 3, 1917 in Kemmerer, WY, to Harry Augustus Lewis and Georgiana Marguerite (Shultz) Lewis. In his teen years, Ray worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps, helping build dams in Wyoming. He graduated from the University of Wyoming and earned his medical degree from Northwestern University in 1942. He met his future wife, Mary Henderson, at Northwestern. Ray and Mary were married September 5, 1942 in Santa Ana, CA.
Dr. Lewis served his internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago. He was a Captain with the U.S. Army, stationed in Panama, during World War II. He returned to the Chicago area to specialize in pediatrics at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Evanston. He was board certified in pediatrics by the American Board of Medical Specialties in 1956. The Lewis’s went to many baseball games while living in Chicago and became lifelong Cubs fans. For their 50th wedding anniversary, their children gave them a trip to Chicago, including a Cubs game.
Dr. Lewis began practice in pediatrics in Booneville, MO. He later relocated his office to Columbia. He was affiliated with Boone County Hospital (now Boone Hospital Center) and served a stint as Chief of Staff there. When Dr. Lewis retired from private practice, he joined the University of Missouri Student Health Clinic.
In 1981, he and Mary moved to Lander, WY, where he was a physician at the Wyoming State Training School. Dr. Sandy Mossbrook wrote “As a fellow pediatrician at the Wyoming State Training School in Lander, I had the utmost respect for Dr. Lewis' diagnostic skills, his common sense, and his kindness. He represented the best of what being a doctor was all about. Physicians of his era and style are truly missed.” Upon retirement, he and Mary moved to Dubois, WY where they built a passive solar home. They enjoyed growing salad vegetables year-round indoors. He served as a consulting physician at the Dubois Clinic.
While in Dubois, Ray enjoyed the infrequent opportunity to ride horseback along with a rancher friend looking after his cattle. On one of these occasions, several tourists on their way to Yellowstone stopped and wanted to take a photo of Ray, “the picturesque cowboy.” This tickled the Lewis’s as it was the other man who’d been a cowboy all his life.
The Lewis’s retired to Riverton, WY. Ray enjoyed fishing, tying flies, cross country skiing, gardening, making stained glass lampshades, crossword puzzles and reading.
Preceded in death by two brothers, a sister, and two daughters; Mary Katherine Lewis and Nancy Jean Lewis. Survived by his wife Mary; sons Ray (Peg), Tulsa, OK; Robert (Peggy), Springfield, MO; John (Jill), Westminster, CO; and James (Lois), St. Louis, MO; 13 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.
There was cremation. Condolences may be left online at http://thedavisfuneralhome.com. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org, or the charity of one’s choice.