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  • During the 2012 Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation members banquet, retiring board member M.J. “Mutt” Lewis, center, is congratulated by former Gov, George Nigh, left, and DAEDF Board Chair Jimmy Cooper.

    Honoring leadership
March 5, 2012

Honoring leadership

Ed Darling The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN — Duncan entrepreneur and longtime businessman M.J. “Mutt” Lewis was honored for his years of service and commitment to the community by the Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation (DAEDF).

Lewis is retiring from the group’s board after serving 16 years and several terms, filling virtually every position on the board and its executive committee.

“No one is more proud to call Duncan home,” Lyle Roggow, president of DAEDF, told more than 100 members and guests at the Simmons Center. “And few have given more.”

Former Gov. George Nigh, a longtime Lewis friend, was a special guest at the event, calling Lewis “one of my best buddies,” thanking him and his wife, Neda, for their tireless support of his campaigns and political career, citing his “influence here and statewide” and saying how “appropriate it is to recognize someone who has done so much and meant so much to Duncan and all of Oklahoma.”

Lewis was presented a Will Rogers statue to honor his lifetime achievement, a plaque saluting his “leadership, guidance and inspiration” and will be the recipient of an engraved granite paver on the grounds of the state capitol, presented by the Friends of the Capitol in appreciation for his work and dedication.

He has been a community builder in Duncan, literally, and a visionary for economic development efforts.

He is founder of Duncan Builders Supply and owner of MJ Lewis and Associates Land Development Co. He purchased lumber yards in Duncan, Chickasha, Ardmore, Sulphur and Tishomingo and served as president of the Oklahoma Lumberman’s Association in 1975.

He was appointed to the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency by Nigh, served two five-year terms, was chairman in 1989 and continued to serve under Gov. Frank Keating. And he has been a member of the First Bank and Trust Co. board since December 1988.

Lewis first developed the six-lot Evergreen subdivision and has since been responsible for more than 1,000 building lots in Williams West, Timber Creek, Timber Gate and Westfield areas.

Now 85, he was born in Duncan, attended schools in Duncan and served in the U.S. Navy. He and Neda have four children Karla (Johnny) Dillon, Mike (Jackie) Lewis, Kim Lewis and Kelly Lewis.

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