DR. B. ROBERT LEWIS

One of St. Louis Park’s most noted civic figures was B. Robert Lewis, veterinarian, School Board member, and State Senator. Dr. Lewis was a true St. Louis Park pioneer, having been the first African American to serve on a Twin Cities school board, and to be elected to the Minnesota Senate.

Lewis was born on November 2, 1931 in Wichita Kansas. He earned a BS in Animal Husbandry from Kansas State University in 1953 before serving in the Korean War from 1953 to 1955. In 1958 he earned a BS in Biological Science, and in 1960 he took a degree as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, also from Kansas State. He practiced in Omaha for two years before moving to St. Louis Park in July 1962. At that time he took over the practice of Dr. Fitch. At the time of his death, he operated the Oak Knoll Clinic in St. Louis Park and the Spring Gate Veterinary Clinic in Golden Valley.

Lewis was first elected to the St. Louis Park School Board in 1966. At various times he served as Treasurer, Chairman, and Clerk. On July 31, 1971, he left the Board when he was appointed to a spot on the State Board of Education.

In 1973 he was elected to the Minnesota State Senate, District 41, serving St. Louis Park and part of Golden Valley. He was chairman of the Finance Subcommittee on Health, Welfare and Corrections. He sponsored legislation to aid victims of family violence and authored bills that established and continued funding for a statewide program for battered women and their families. He co-authored the Family Planning Act of 1978, which would help provide services regardless of income and the Catastrophic Health Insurance legislation which aids families who have a member in a nursing home or which have extraordinary medical expenses. He also helped create a psychiatric service for prison inmates.

Lewis was a founding member of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council, vice chairman of the St. Louis Park Planning Commission, and on the board of the Minneapolis Urban League (voted Man of the Year).

He was an officer of the Metropolitan Animal Hospital Association and committee chairman at the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association. He served as Secretary, Vice President, and President of the Metropolitan Animal Hospital Association.

Dr. Lewis died of a sudden heart attack at his home in Golden Valley on April 25, 1979 at the age of 47. His body laid in state at the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda, where 500 mourners filed by. He was survived by his wife, Margaret Sandberg, and teenage children B. Robert Lewis, Jr. and Stacy Joan Lewis.

On September 24, 1980, the Minnesota Public Health Association created the B. Robert Lewis Award, first presented at the Grandview Lodge in Brainerd, Minnesota. This award has been given to such political luminaries as George Latimer, Don Fraser, Walter Mondale, Skip Humphrey, Martin Sabo, and Paul Wellstone.

 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.