Chuck Lewis

Chuck Lewis, Entrepreneur, Downtown Developer, and Author

Charlottesville entrepreneur and author Chuck Lewis, 70, left for his final sales call on Monday, May 3, 2010, and will reunite with his wife, Kathy, in the great produce warehouse beyond.

Best known as the co-owner of Lewis Produce with his wife and later Kathy's Produce, which he named in her memory, Lewis was a homegrown product of the Charlottesville area. Born near Gordonsville in an area informally known as Quarlestown, Lewis enlisted in the United States Army Airborne as a teen. He went on to work in the food services industry as one of the first black managers at several corporations in New Jersey.

In the mid-1970s, Lewis returned to Virginia with his wife and family with their last $250 to found Lewis Produce. Eight years later, the company was grossing $11 million. Tragedy struck two years after the couple retired, when Kathy, 42, died suddenly of an asthma attack. Later, Lewis repurchased the produce company they had sold, renaming it Kathy's Produce.

In 1995, Lewis sold Kathy's Produce to devote himself full time to developing commercial and residential property on the Downtown Mall. Among his legacies is York Place, an innovative retail and residential space named for the Virginia slave who traveled as a navigator with United States heroes Lewis and Clark as they explored the American West.

Chuck and Kathy Lewis are survived by their loving and devoted children, Leah Trager and her husband, Joe, and Charley Lewis and his wife, Tina; their precious grandchildren, Miles and Xavier Trager and Elek and Lucy Lewis, and another grandchild soon to arrive. With Grandma Kathy and Papa Chuck is grandbaby Ronin Lewis. He is also survived by his brother, James Flannigan and his wife, Jean; his nieces, Christi and her husband, Mike Harris, and their children, and Nedra and her husband, Charles Fleming, and their children; and Joan Miller, longtime friend and employee of 28 years. He was grateful to have had so many valued employees and longtime customers over the years.

Lewis published his memoirs in All the Riches of Job: A True Story of Success and What Came After, which recounts his business successes and the tragic personal losses he suffered along the way, and the spiritual questions that resulted.

A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, May 22, 2010, at Covenant Church, 1025 East Rio Road, Charlottesville, VA 22901.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Hope Community Center, 341 11th Street Northwest, Charlottesville, VA 22903, www.hopecommunitycenter.org.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.