John M Lewis III, 90, former state legislator Star report December 27, 2003 SEYMOUR, Ind. -- Services for John M Lewis III, 90, Seymour, a former state representative, will be at 2 p.m. Dec. 29 in Myers Funeral Service, Burkholder Chapel, with calling there from 2 to 8 p.m. Dec. 28 and from 9 a.m. Dec. 29. Burial will be in Riverview Cemetery. He died Dec. 24. A Republican, Mr. Lewis served in the Indiana General Assembly from 1967 to 1970. Previously, he served as Jackson County prosecutor from 1948 to 1952 and as a Jackson Circuit judge from 1952 to 1964. Mr. Lewis began his law career in 1938, when he joined his father's law practice. In 1939, he took over the practice after his father's death. He also had been a Seymour city attorney. Mr. Lewis was a member of Rockford United Methodist Church, Seymour Elks Lodge, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He also was a Kentucky Colonel. Mr. Lewis was a 1932 graduate of Hanover College and a 1938 graduate of Indiana University School of Law. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was an Army veteran of World War II and received the Bronze Star. Memorial contributions may be made to Rockford United Methodist Church or the Jackson County Humane Society, in care of the funeral home. He was the widower of Josephine M. Deputy Lewis. Survivors include his wife, Myra Hill Lewis; sons, John M Lewis IV and Fred D Lewis; stepchildren, Holly Ripley, Marrilee Tingle, and Brad and Jonathan Hill; three grandchildren; eight stepgrandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and three great-stepgrandchildren. From the Online Edition of the Indianapolis Star ------------------------------------------------ Atomic aftermath: Hiroshima through the eyes of an American GI By Stewart Hedger For Custom Publications One bright afternoon, U.S. Army 2nd Lt. John M Lewis III strolled around a Japanese city, seeing the sights - just a tourist spending an hour and a half seeing what he could see. Nothing unusual. Except this was September 1945 and the city was Hiroshima, which only six weeks before had been leveled by an atomic bomb. The Seymour, Ind. native didn't so much tour Hiroshima as he toured where Hiroshima had been. He even stood on the B-29 Enola Gay's bombardier's aiming point, the Aioi T-Bridge. 'You couldn't put in words the devastation,' Lewis said. 'Hiroshima was wiped off the map. It was as if somebody had taken a big scythe and cut everything down. That sounds fantastic, but that's the best way to describe it. 'We had no knowledge there was any danger from the atomic part of it. I had information about the sighting point, so I made it a point to go there.' No officials told U.S. servicemen to steer clear of possible dangerous radiation - at least no warning filtered down to the rank-and-file GIs. A year later, Lewis slipped past MPs into a top-level meeting in Washington and heard a scientist explain what radiation was. That scientist cavalierly mentioned that anyone in Hiroshima within six months of the bomb dropping was already dead. That caught Lewis' attention. Amongst all the brass, the brash second looie raised a hand and told the speaker, 'I was at Hiroshima within 60 days of the bomb being dropped, and I'm still alive.' The brass laughed. The irritated scientist passed it off, rather flat-footedly, with, 'Let us say, Lieutenant, you come back next year and we'll see what the situation is then.' 'Nobody then had any true knowledge of what the bomb was, the power it had and the effects it had on human beings,' Lewis said. 'They said everyone there within six months was dead - and I sure as hell wasn't dead.' Lewis went home and never looked back. There were no tests, no follow-ups. He went his way - without apparent ill effects. 'He never took my name - I never went back,' Lewis said. 'I didn't believe it. I was young enough and dumb enough to think that if I had lived a year, I would live. I wasn't genuinely scared. I never thought anything about it, until that dissertation.' How does science explain that one? Lewis didn't know and wouldn't spend time worrying. 'Some higher power makes those decisions,' he explained. Lewis was with the 98th Motor Battalion when World War II ended, working in military procurement, being responsible for deeds and abstracts and verifying properties, buildings and other items taken over for use by American troops. He even procured working quarters for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the Occupation. The work gave Lewis a chance to move about the country, traveling by Jeep, accompanied by an 18-year-old Persian-Japanese driver-interpreter who couldn't drive. Lewis was just seeing the sights when he pulled into Hiroshima, having heard about the bomb and wanting to see the city. 'We didn't have any idea what an atomic bomb was,' he said. 'We heard countless stories. Some were so fantastic you couldn't believe it. 'I had heard so much I wanted to see what Hiroshima looked like.' Lewis had no difficulty moving about. He was with an occupying force and had a special pass he used 'sometimes, shall we say, in excess of my authority.' 'If I wanted to go somewhere it said you shouldn't go, I just went ahead,' he said. 'I stood - deliberately, intentionally - on the aiming point. I just stood there like a tourist so I could say I had been where the bomb was aimed.' He wore no protective clothing, only his uniform. 'We didn't know (about radiation),' Lewis said. 'It sounds silly to the non-military, but that's the way it was. If any warning was issued, it didn't get down to the ranks. The Army operates on a need-to-know basis.' Lewis remembers one sight later pictured in a major magazine: 'It was a human body outlined on pavement. It was completely outlined (imagine a crime scene chalk outline). I saw it with my own eyes. The body was not there.' For an encore, Lewis went on to 'a whirlwind tour' of Nagasaki, the A-bomb's second victim. 'Nagasaki was a duplication. We just drove through. I don't think we ever got out of the Jeep. Seeing Hiroshima was enough.' Finishing his tour of duty, Lewis was mustered out at Camp Atterbury and returned to Seymour to resume the practice of law he began in 1937. The presence of a John M Lewis practicing law in Seymour had been ongoing for 156 years. John M I started a practice in 1857 to be followed by his son, John M II, and grandson, John M III. Succeeding generations sought divergent paths. Lewis's son, John M IV, is a retired schoolteacher now painting and grandson John M V is in Indianapolis Racing League management. 'I guess I'm the last of the Mohicans,' Lewis said as his family's law dynasty faded, happy if his children are happy but with a trace of nostalgia behind his words. Another son, Fred, is beginning a fourth term as Seymour's city clerk-treasurer. Both sons are children of Lewis' first wife, Josephine, who died in 1975. Lewis and his second wife, Myra, have been married 25 years. She has four children of her own. Automobiles infiltrated John IV's bloodline as, in addition to John V, one granddaughter works in the IRL with driver Michael Andretti and another works with a Seymour car dealership. John III had seen his share of politics, serving 12 years as circuit judge, six as prosecuting attorney and four as deputy prosecutor, plus two two-year terms as joint state representative while Otis Bowen was governor. He served 'roughly 10 years' as Seymour city attorney. 'When Republicans were in, I was city attorney,' Lewis said. 'When Democrats came in, I was invited out.' While Lewis continued practicing law, he pursued another passion as Seymour historian. He wrote a weekly column, 'Look Back at Seymour,' for 10 years in the town's daily newspaper and published two books. He had a special interest in the Reno Brothers, an outlaw gang pulling off history's first train robbery east of Seymour in 1866. Wife Myra also dabbled in politics, becoming the first woman ever elected to Seymour City Council. Lewis had a first, too. 'I've been told I was the first Republican judge elected in Jackson County,' he said, adding with a sly grin, 'You say something and I can almost say, 'I've been there and I've done that.'' Editor's note: In a poignant coincidence, Stewart Hedger and John M Lewis III spoke for a last time on Christmas Eve in the emergency room at Schneck Memorial Hospital in Seymour, Ind. Both passed away that night. Memorial contributions for John M Lewis III may be made to Rockford United Methodist Church or the Jackson County Humane Society, c/o Myers Funeral Service Burkholder Chapel, 419 North Chestnut Street, Seymour, IN 47274. Memorial contributions for Stewart B. Hedger may be made to the Glen P. Buhlig Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o University of Kentucky, Agricultural Alumni and Development Office, N212 Agricultural Science Building North, Lexington, KY 40506-0091. Re: Generation. An advertising supplement of the Indianapolis Star, Jan 2004. http://www.indystar.com/custompubs/regen/011404/article04.html ----------------------------------------------------------- John M. Lewis III dies at age of 90 By Joanne Persinger jpersinger@tribtown.com Longtime attorney and local historian John M. Lewis III of Seymour died Wednesday evening at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour. Lewis, 90, not only practiced law for decades in Jackson County, but also served as a judge, served in the state Legislature and contributed to the preservation of the county's history with his writings. His columns taking a look back at Seymour's history from its earliest days were published in The Tribune for several years and also were compiled into book form, including pictorials. In addition to several volumes of A Look Back into Seymour's History, Lewis' The Reno Story, detailing the history of the county's infamous Reno brothers, also was published. 'He was a true historian and he loved his country and the military and he was a good attorney,' said former Tribune publisher L. Thurman Gill. 'He's the only legislator that I ever knew in the (Indiana) House of Representatives who read every bill cover to cover,' Gill added. 'That's saying a lot for the gentleman. 'He did a superfine job for us covering the Look Backs,' Gill said, referring to Lewis' columns and books. In addition, 'The Look Backs were in the Library of Congress,' he said. 'I can't say enough good things about John M.,' Gill said. 'He was number one in my book.' Attorney Joseph K. Markel of Brownstown said that, for Lewis, serving the law always came first. 'He was always more interested in serving the law and representing his clients than making money,' Markel said. 'He believed in representing his clients and serving the law, and that was absolutely true to the very end.' Seymour Daily Tribune, IN Friday, December 26, 2003 http://www.tribtown.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=8915