Julius Curtis Lewis Jr.

Julius Curtis Lewis Jr., often known as J.C. Lewis Jr. (March 11, 1926 – August 20, 2005), was an American businessman, philanthropist and Chairman of J.C. Lewis Enterprises, Lewis Broadcasting Corporation, J.C. Lewis Investment Company, and Island Investments.

In 1929 the general aviation committee of the Savannah City Council purchased 730 acres (3 km²), the Belmont Tract belonging to Mr. Lewis' father, J.C. Lewis, as the future site of the Savannah Municipal Airport now known as Hunter Army Airfield.

Lewis started his life by inheriting Georgia's oldest Ford dealership from his father and built a diversified family empire.

He "proved to be a brilliant businessman, opening additional Ford dealerships in Daytona Beach and Melbourne, Fla., adding new brands to his Savannah dealership, and investing in tractor sales, taxi cab businesses, television and radio stations, hotels, life insurance, yacht sales and real estate."

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His business interests included numerous television and radio stations, along with new and used car dealerships throughout the southeast; and over a dozen other companies including life insurance, finance corporations, and both commercial and residential real estate development firms.

His automotive interests included two Ford dealerships in Savannah, Georgia (Georgia's oldest continuously operated Ford Dealership), as well as the city's Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Saab, and Avis Rent A Car franchises.

He also owned the Ford dealerships in Daytona Beach and Melbourne, Florida.

Lewis was a principal partner in CLV-Credit Life Insurance Corporation and owned Owens and Trojan Yacht Sales Group which was located at the JC Lewis Marina located in Thunderbolt, Georgia.

His media properties included: ABC-22 WJCL-TV and Fox-28 WTGS-TV in Savannah, Georgia, NBC-38 WLTZ-TV in Columbus, Georgia, CBS-19 WLTX-TV in Columbia, South Carolina, and a country western format radio station in Savannah, Georgia, WJCL-FM, as well as three classic rock–formatted stations in Jackson, WSTZ-FM, Vicksburg, Mississippi's WSTZ-AM, and Columbia, South Carolina's WNOK.

From the 1940s to 2005, Lewis developed a sizable business empire, including automobile dealerships and media outlets throughout the southeast, including both a TV and radio station bearing his initials—WJCL-TV (the Savannah, Georgia market's first all-color television station), and WJCL-FM (the market's first stereo FM station), and acquired numerous commercial real estate properties including shopping centers and tracts of mixed-use properties throughout the Savannah area.

Lewis owned a portion of land on the southern end of Skidaway Island and later developed much of it into Moon River Landing, the final phase of the Landings on Skidaway Island and Green Island, a barrier island located off the coast of Georgia.

A native of Savannah, J.C. Lewis Jr. was a prefect at the Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Virginia, where he graduated with honors and went on to graduate summa cum laude (highest honors) from the University of Georgia.

Lewis was a veteran of the United States Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Merchant Marine.

Lewis then embarked on what would become an incredibly successful business career, building wealth and stature in several arenas, but perhaps most so in the fields of automotive sales, television broadcasting, and real estate.

He served one term as Mayor of Savannah in the late 1960s as a Republican.

In the early 1960s, Lewis, a former YMCA president, donated 8.5 acre of land on South Habersham Street and went on to lead the 1964 capital funds campaign.

In 1966 Lewis became the first Republican mayor of a Georgia city since Reconstruction.

His entire slate of six Republican aldermanic candidates were elected to City Hall.

Although he did not exploit the racial issues, he benefited from a backlash from white voters against the popular Democratic incumbent, Malcolm Maclean.

Many white segregationists considered that Maclean had been too soft on matters of race.

While serving as Mayor in 1967, he was approached by then Sheriff Wilkes S. MacFeeley about establishing and operating a "One Hundred Club" to provide financial support to the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

The club was established in 1968, with Lewis serving as the president until 1976.

As mayor he also instituted the Model Cities Program, part of a national effort to erase neglect in blighted neighborhoods, and successfully led efforts to designate Wassaw Island, a large barrier island southeast of Savannah, a U.S. Wildlife Refuge in 1969.

Construction of the city's sewerage treatment plant was also completed during his term.

In the mid-1970s Lewis acquired the Savannah Business Journal newspaper.

Lewis was instrumental in developing the southside of Savannah, along Abercorn Street and an adjacent area of the city presently known as Habersham Woods.

Much of the latter was an outgrowth of his Oakdale tract.

He also sold the land that facilitated the construction of Oglethorpe Mall and the subsequent surrounding retail areas.

After four years in office, Lewis lost his last-minute reelection bid to Democratic nominee John Rousakis, who succeeded Lewis in 1970.

In the 1970s and '80s Lewis owned and operated a group of hotels including the Howard Johnson's in Hardeeville, South Carolina, Savannah's Downtowner Motor Inn (which later became the Ramada Inn downtown Savannah), and the Ramada Inn in Melbourne, Florida.

All three hotels were new concepts for their day, which Lewis constructed with a nod to his native Savannah: He strayed from the Downtowner corporate concept and added the locally inspired Savannah wrought-iron railings to fit the locale.

During his tenure at city hall, Lewis was directly responsible for the construction of the Savannah Civic Center (completed in 1974), the planning of the Harry S. Truman Parkway, and played a pivotal role in the revitalization of the city's River Street, eventually a popular tourist area.

The Savannah Ramada Inn was later sold to Savannah College of Art and Design in 1987 and converted into the school's first dormitory, enabling much of the school's subsequent growth.

The adjacent property on Oglethorpe Avenue still bearing the original J.C. Lewis signage, the site of second J.C. Lewis Motor Company location, was also sold to SCAD to become the school's gymnasium, ClubSCAD.

Lewis died at Candler Hospital in Savannah on August 6, 2005, at age 79.

He suffered from leukemia for several years.

This eventually resulted in the YMCA Family Center on Habersham renamed in 2007, the YMCA J.C. Lewis Jr. Family Center – Habersham in Savannah.

He subsequently donated the adjacent tract of land for the formation of Memorial Baptist Church and Memorial Day School.

Lewis was the primary benefactor in the Grace House and the Magdalene and Phoenix Projects.