Duane Harley Lewis, of Frenchmen’s Reserve, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, passed away peacefully on Feb. 4, 2020, at the age of 91. Mr. Lewis was educated in Elmira, NY, and a graduate of Syracuse Univ. and Rochester Business Inst. Mr. Lewis spent 3 years as an Infantry Officer during the Korean Campaign. Prior to his retirement in 1990, he was Pres. and CEO of Continental Plastics, Inc., in Triadelphia, WV, with factories there as well as in New Jersey and Florida. As founder of the company, he developed it to an international competitor in the industry. He had been a member of the American Tube Council, American Spice Trade Association as two-term chairman of Suppliers Council, and the Plastic Packaging Institute, and has been a Guest Lecturer on packaging systems at various universities. More recently, he has been an active investor in small businesses and in the financial markets.
A world traveler, Mr. Lewis had travelled to every continent and traversed the globe multiple times visiting nearly every country. An avid boater, skier, bird hunter, and trout fisherman, he had spent several weeks each year at western homes and in Mexico, Europe, and South America pursuing these interests. He had held memberships at Wheeling Country Club, Fort Henry Club, Club Limited, Bahamas Cat Cay Yacht Club, Sailfish Yacht Club, Old Port Yacht Club, North Palm Beach Yacht Club, Sailing Club of Palm Beach, Palm Beach Yacht Club, and Frenchmen’s Reserve Country Club. He was also a member of The Old Guard Society of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach Sons of the American Revolution.
He was preceded in death by his beloved first wife of 44 years, Dr. Maria (Sciavolino) Lewis in 2002, and his loving second wife of 10 years, Cathy Jane Lewis in 2018. Survivors include son Daniel J. (Leonora); daughter Kathleen (Jabe) and granddaughters Caroline and Kaitlyn Knight; daughter Bridget (Krista) and grandson Alec (Heather), Devin (Rachel) and Perri Johnsen; great-grandchildren Logan and Hadley Johnsen; sister Joann Decker; brother James (Jane); and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services will be held on Feb. 15, 2020, at the Howard-Quattlebaum Funeral Home, N. Palm Beach, FL. Burial will be on Feb. 18 at the Lewis family plot at Rural Home Cemetery, Big Flats, NY.
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