Dr. Jerry Lee Lewis

Dr. Jerry Lee Lewis, the son of Harry Edgar Lewis II and Harriet Mildred Herrick, was born Feb. 19, 1944, in Muscatine, Iowa. Jerry graduated from high school in Lovington, Ill., in 1962; received his bachelor of science degree from Iowa State University in 1966; received his master of science degree  in anatomy from the University of Iowa in 1968 and his M.D. in 1971; completed his family practice residency at the University of Nebraska in 1974; and completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Iowa in 1981.

Jerry was united in marriage with Janice Christian on Feb. 4, 1967, in Roland, Iowa. Jerry worked as a family practitioner in Faulkton, S.D., from 1974 to 1978 through the U.S. Public Health Service. He then went on to Newton to operate a psychiatric clinic for 20 years and currently worked for the University of Iowa Hospitals as a professor of psychiatry. Jerry was a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church; the Skunk River Singers; the Iowa Psychiatric Society; a Fellow of American Psychiatric Association; and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists. He enjoyed bicycling, singing, board games, cooking, traveling and writing stories. He was an Eagle Scout, member of Order of the Arrow, had earned Wood Badge and was a former scout master. He was a past president of the Iowa Psychiatry Society, a founding member of the Iowa Psychiatric Society Foundation and a past delegate to the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association.

Jerry died on Monday, Sept. 13, 2010, at Lake View Memorial Hospital in Two Harbors, Minn. He was 66 years old. Jerry was preceded in death by his parents; his father-in-law and mother-in-law; his brother, Charles Lewis; one nephew, Charles Lewis; and a sister-in-law, Cecelia Creswick.

Those left to honor Jerry’s memory include his wife, Jan of Newton; his sons, Mark (Brenda) of Ravenna, Ohio, Brad (Lesa) of Bondurant, Iowa, Theron (Dana) of Rochester, Minn., and Jeff of Eudora, Kan.; his daughter-in-law, Karen Lewis of Lawrence, Kan.; his grandchildren, Rhiannon, Aiden, Sienna, Aubrey, Ruby, Jannelle, Kathy and David; his sister, Lynn (Conrad) Gudgel; his brothers, Bruce (Ann) Lewis and Ed (Janette) Lewis; his sister-in-law, Margaret Christian (Chancy Bittner); brother-in-laws, Joel (Carol) Christian and Chet Creswick; and 14 nieces and nephews, including Lela Creswick and Erica Creswick, who had lived with him and Jan.

A funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at the First Christian Church Disciples in Newton. Friends may call at the Pence-Reese Funeral Home from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.  The family will greet friends from 5:30 until 8 p.m. at St. Luke United Methodist Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be designated to the Iowa Psychiatric Society Foundation, the St. Luke United Methodist Church or to the University of Iowa Foundation in Jerry’s name and may be left at the church or at the Pence-Reese Funeral Home.