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ABOVE: Lewis Brothers Motor Company, circa late 1940s. In 1947, the company moved to this location near the corner of State and Grove Streets. TOP: Lewis Brothers Motor Company, circa 1925. Shown, center, L. Roy Lewis and brother J. Verne Lewis, at right, with a 1923 new Chevrolet Coupe. Man at left is unidentified.

photos courtesy Dick Lewis

L. Roy Lewis in the aftermath of a fire at Lewis Brothers Motor Company January 1945.

According to a recent account written by Dick Lewis, who presently resides in Hiawassee, Ga., and is the son of the late L. Roy Lewis, J. Verne Lewis was described as a romantic who succumbed to the love of flying. His brother, L. Roy Lewis, graduated with top honors from Lehigh University in 1919 with a degree in engineering.

J. Verne Lewis originally founded the Lewis Motor Company in Clarks Summit. During the early years of the business when J. Verne Lewis operated it by himself, their mother, Eva Lewis, urged her younger son L. Roy Lewis to leave his job in New York to join J. Verne Lewis at the growing car dealership. Eventually L. Roy Lewis would become a partner, according to Rick Holt, grandson of L. Roy Lewis. The name was then changed to Lewis Brothers Motor Company.

In the early days of the Lewis Brothers they sold Chevrolets, but in the mid-1920s, they switched to Maxwells. Then, in 1927 when Walter P. Chrysler emerged, L. Roy Lewis became a Chrysler Plymouth dealer until he retired in 1960 and sold the business to Montclair Motors of Scranton.

Throughout the 1930s, J. Verne Lewis’ first passion was aviation and he split his time between the dealership and the Scranton Municipal airport. By the end of the 1930s, J. Verne Lewis had weaned himself from the automobile business to pursue his love of aviation full time. In fact, according to family history, Orville Wright signed J. Verne Lewis’ private pilot’s certificate.

J. Verne Lewis was chief-licensed A & P mechanic at the Scranton Municipal Airport where his daughter Jean Lewis Crump recalled often handing her father his tools. During the pre-war years, J. Verne Lewis owned and conducted civilian pilot training at the local Daleville Airport. Following these years, he moved on to operate the Honesdale Airport.

Beginning with the onset of the 1940s, L. Roy Lewis solely operated the car dealership, formerly at the site where Citizens Savings Bank corporate offices are currently located on South State Street.

The original car dealership remained at that midtown location until mid-January 1945, when a disastrous fire said to have started by an “overheated furnace in a garage basement,” destroyed an entire block of buildings, including the Lewis Motor Company, the original movie theater as well as another Chevy dealership. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.

While the fire of 1945 was a monumental setback for the Lewis Motor Company, the dealership found a temporary home in a nearby vacant factory building owned by a man known as “Mr. Decker.” In the latter part of 1947, the Lewis Motor Company moved to its new Clarks Summit location near the corner of State and Grove Streets in a new building designed by the architect M.D. Lewis, of Waverly, and built by the Glenn Ruland Construction Company. Currently, the original building is occupied by several businesses, including a sandwich shop and a building contractor.

Holt, grandson of the late L. Roy Lewis, described that location of Lewis Motor Company. He said, “My recollections are vague because I was only five years of age when the business was sold to Montclair Motors in 1960. However, I do recall the unforgettable aroma of new cars, rubber tires and gasoline that were present in that very clean showroom.”

He added, “My grandfather, Roy Lewis, a quiet man, and his brother Verne were both extremely mechanically inclined. His brother, Verne Lewis, had a tremendous history of being involved with aviation, aircraft and their maintenance.”

Holt also recalled his grand uncle J. Verne Lewis being extremely particular when it came to working with his gifted mechanical ability.

“Those characteristics have definitely been passed on to me,” said Holt. “Among his business career, Roy Lewis always found time to pursue his passion for organic gardening. His home was situated in close proximity to Citizen’s Savings and Loan at the corner of Davis and Grove Streets.”

In the story of the business written by Dick Lewis, L. Roy Lewis is characterized as a businessman with an indisputable reputation for fairness, quality of service and customer satisfaction. According to Dick Lewis, his father L. Roy Lewis’ motto was unmistakably “The customer is always right.”

The author, James R. (Dick) Lewis was one of four veterans who worked for Lewis Motor Company, in keeping with a custom to hire immediately returning WWII veterans.

Some of the employees at the pre-fire location of Lewis Motor Co. included Viola Williams, Ray Ross, Gaylord Thomas, Sterling Stanton, Chester Norton, William Cracknell and Claude Barnes.

Dick Lewis also noted that at the new facility, some of L. Roy Lewis’ employees included Al Miller, Gilbert Canterbury, Milton Walters, Roger Clark and Bill Conklin.