Jack Lewis died at his home in Jefferson on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. He was 86.
A memorial gathering to mark his passing will be held Friday, July 3, from 5 to 8 pm at the Elks Lodge, 103 W. Harrison St., in Jefferson.
John David “Jack” Lewis was born Dec. 15, 1939, at Finley Hospital in Dubuque, the only son of John W. and Miriam Agnes “Pat” McConnell Lewis.
He moved with his family to Jefferson in 1949, when his father took a job as the watch repairman at Sidney’s Jewelry.
As a boy in Jefferson, Jack fished the Raccoon River; built tree houses; and kept a turtle farm in his backyard. He was devoted to his dogs Brownie and Inky. He and his family were members of the First Presbyterian Church.
A popular member of the Jefferson High School Class of 1958, Jack spent his freshman year in college at the University of Dubuque where he was a member of Phi Omicron fraternity. He graduated from Drake University with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1963.
After a brief stint with the Army Reserve, Jack joined Younkers Department Store in Des Moines as an assistant buyer. He was a Younkers corporate vice-president for many years, overseeing the cosmetics departments in the store’s 17 locations. He retired from Younkers in 1993, and became vice-president of Coffee Suite, a corporation that sold and distributed in-room coffee service to hotels and motels.
He married Janet Moore of Cambridge, Iowa, in 1966. The couple reared two sons, Todd and Jeff, in Des Moines and rural Indianola, and divorced in 1999.
Jack married his high school sweetheart, Denise O’Brien, at the Greene County courthouse on May 1, 2002. They had their first date in September 1957.
After living in West Des Moines for several years, he and Denise moved to Jefferson in 2009 where they relished life in the town where they grew up.
An outgoing man, Jack Lewis had a great capacity for friendship. He enjoyed gardening, fishing and reading, and collected art and antiques. In retirement, he became an artist, producing paintings and sculpture.
Jack Lewis is survived by his wife Denise O’Brien Van; his former wife Janet Moore Lewis; and his sons Todd and his wife Lisa of Des Moines and Jeff and his wife Maggie of rural New Virginia.
Other survivors include Todd’s children Amanda, Toni and Nicholas Lewis; and Jeff’s daughters Chelsea, Ashley, Bayleigh Woods and Jordyn, as well as 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents John W. and Miriam “Pat’ McConnell Lewis, and by his sisters Shirley Lewis Peterson and Barbara Lewis Powell.
