Lewis Webb Jr.

1930 - 2017

Lewis Webb, Jr.

October 12, 1930 - October 1, 2017

Lewis "Bud" Webb Jr., 86, a long-time real estate developer and philanthropist and devoted family man, passed away on October 1, 2017, in Palm Desert.

Lew's passing leaves a void in the hearts of so many people who benefited from his love and generosity and took joy in his colorful stories about growing up in the Chicago area. Lew was a self-made businessman driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. He was a Christian who devoted his later years to sharing his good fortune by improving the lives of others through charitable efforts and community involvement. Lew was a board member of the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation in Palm Desert and Trustee of The Webb Foundation, both of which have supported community organizations such as CHLA, Keck Medical Center at USC, CSUSB's Palm Desert Campus, Angel View, SafeHouse of the Desert, Gilda's Club Desert Cities, the Desert Ability Center and many more.

Lew was born on October 12, 1930, in Oak Park, Illinois. Some of his favorite tales involved his first job, at age 12, as a pin setter at a bowling alley, and working as a soda jerk and Good Humor ice cream man. After moving to California in his youth, Lew graduated from Mark Kepple High School in Alhambra, California, in 1948, and married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy M. King, in 1951. Later, while working on the loading docks at Arden Farms, a co-worker taught Lew to drive big rigs. On the side, he began building homes and going to night school to learn real estate. Driven to succeed, Lew took a vacation from Arden and offered to work without pay at Prudential Savings so he could learn about real estate appraisal. The company ended up hiring him after the two-week trial and he continued moonlighting in construction.

Eventually, Lew partnered with Gene Ribeiro to form Euclid Land & Construction Co. The company built single-family homes and condominiums across the San Gabriel Valley in the 1960s and '70s. After retiring in the 1980s, Lew lived off and on in Kauai, Hawaii, with Dorothy. After what was intended to be a brief visit back to Arcadia in the early nineties to help his ailing father, Lew visited the Berger Foundation and before he knew it he was on the Board of Directors. He became Vice President of Investments for the Berger Foundation and soon after he was entrusted with The Webb Foundation. Since then, he contributed immensely to the expansion of these foundations and the thoughtful growth of philanthropy in the Coachella Valley, providing the entire community with a profound example of how to do it right.

Lew's big heart and gentle spirit will be sorely missed by his family and many friends, as well as the communities that benefited from his kind works. He was quite simply, a great man who many of us had the honor and privilege to call husband, dad, grandfather and friend.

Lew is survived by his loving wife, Dorothy; children Mary Alice Adams of Monrovia, Robert Lewis Webb of Apple Valley, Laurel Marie Webb of Cathedral City, and Annette Dorothy White of Glendora; grandchildren Stacy (Adams) Stover of Apple Valley, Nicole (Adams) Moyer of Arcadia, and Michael Webb, Michelle Webb, Kayla White and Kirsten White, all of Glendora; a great-grandson due in late November; and sister Marilyn Moore of Fullerton. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis Webb, Sr. and Ethel Mary Webb.

In lieu of flowers and gifts, the family requests donations in Lew's memory to Samaritan's Purse, P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607, or www.samaritanspurse.org.

Services will be held Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. at the Rose Hills Memorial Chapel, 3888 Workman Mill Rd., Whittier, CA. Reception to follow.

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: desertsun.com/obituaries