Jack Tarvin Lewis

Published 10:40 pm Saturday, February 20, 2016

Jack Tarvin Lewis died Feb. 19, 2016, at the age of 91.

Jack was born in Laurel Dec. 18, 1924.  He was the son of William Henry Lewis and Ottie Tarvin Lewis.

He was a graduate of George S. Gardiner High School in Laurel.  He entered the Army Air Corps in 1943 and served in World War II as a bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress. After the war, Jack attended Millsaps College in Jackson, where he graduated with a BS degree in geology.

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In 1949, he married Mary Blount and the two moved to Dallas. There, their three daughters, Jackie, Cynthia and Paula were born. Jack worked with the Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern Division Laboratory in Dallas for seven years before moving back to Mississippi.

Upon his return to Mississippi, he owned Lewis Hardware in Jackson and later moved to Vicksburg, where he worked and retired with Waterways Experiment Station as a geologist.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Blount; three daughters, Jackie Lewis Ewing (Steve) of Dallas, Cynthia Lewis of Toronto, Canada, and Paula Lewis Shea (Phil) Dallas; two grandchildren, Philip Tarvin Shea of Los Angeles and Mary Peyton Shea of Dallas; one sister, Otte Gray of Jackson; brother and sister-in-law, Charles Bernard Blount (Jean) of Hattiesburg; two nieces and five nephews; and an honorary daughter, Kathy Fairbarns, Toronto, Canada.

Funeral will be held at Riles Funeral Home  Tuesday, Feb. 23, with visitation starting at 10 a.m. and service at 11.  Burial will follow at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Charles Blount, Newton Blount, Dennis Wells, Robert Wells, William (Buddy) Lewis and Norm Olson.

Memorials may be made to Hawkins Methodist Church, 3736 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180.