OBITUARY
 BARTIE
LEE (BART) LEWIS JR, born June 29, 1946 to Bartie Lee Lewis and Maurine McDaniel
Lewis in Tripp (Sunnyvale), Texas on June 29, 1946, passed away at Medical
City-Dallas from complications of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma on February 29, 2004. As
a lay Methodist minister, patron of the arts, avid reader, traveler, published
writer, college professor, book reviewer, and service volunteer, Bart gave of
himself with dignity and devotion. Ever the thoughtful gentleman, he strived for
fairness in word and deed. To say that he favorably impacted the lives of his
family, friends, colleagues, students, and acquaintances understates his
generosity and nobility of mind and character. His love of the Spanish language
and literature, which he acquired while a student at R. L. Turner High School in
Carrollton, Texas, led him to study in Mexico and to spend time in Mexico,
Central America, South America, and Spain, as well as in other non-Spanish
speaking countries. He obtained a B.A. in Spanish and Sociology from Southern
Methodist University, an M.A. in Spanish and a Ph.D. in Romance Languages from
the University of New Mexico. He began his professional teaching career at Sam
Houston State University, spent most of his years at Texas A&M
University-College Station. He later held the position of Professor of Spanish
at California State University-San Marcos, Fulbright Professor of Modern
Languages at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas and most recently the position
of Associate Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Texas-Arlington.
He was a former president of the Southwest Council of Latin American Studies.
The college textbook Mexican Literature: A History contains Dr. Lewis' chapter,
"Modernism." In April 2003, he saw the result of his eleven years of research in
the publication of his literary criticism, The Miraculous Lie: Lope de Aguirre
and the Search for El Dorado in the Latin American Historical Novel. He also
contributed more than 30 articles to such journals as Hispanic Review,
Hispanofila, Hispanic Journal, Revista Interamericana de Bibliografia, Revista
Iberoamericana, Hispania, Romance Notes and Chasqui. In addition to his
memberships in various professional organizations, where he made over 50
presentations, Dr. Lewis worked in Study Abroad programs while at Texas A&M and
at Lyon College. After moving from Batesville, Arkansas to Dallas, he became a
member of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church. In Batesville, he was a tireless
volunteer for his church and community, hardly knowing how to say "no." Among
his teaching honors are a Distinguished Teaching Award from Texas A&M
University, nomination for the Piper Foundation Teaching Award while at TAMU,
and in 1997 while at Lyon College, the Carnegie Foundation C.A.S.E. Arkansas
Professor of the Year. Survivors indclude his sister Sarah Lewis Jackson and her
husband, Brice Jackson, of Carrollton, Texas; his sister Nancy Lewis Sonntag and
her husband, Fred Sonntag, of Jacksonville, Texas; niece Nancy Jo Jackson of
Dallas; niece Emily Jackson Luevanos and husband Jaime Luevanos of Carrollton,
Texas; niece Connie Ramsey of Malakoff, Texas; nephew Benjamin Lewis Sonntag of
Malakoff, Texas; niece Lee Sonntag Mata and husband Isaac Mata of Lewisville,
Texas; great nieces Rachael Ashley and Cheyenne Ramsey of Malakoff and great
nephew Caleb Mata of Lewisville, TX, as well as a multitude of caring friends
and relatives. Memorials may be made to the Bart Lewis Memorial Scholarship Fund
at the University of Texas-Arlington, P.O. Box 19557, Arlington, TX 76019 or to
the Carrollton Public Library, attention Lucille Dade, Hebron Branch Library,
4220 Josey Lane, Carrollton, TX 75010. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday
night at Rhoton Funeral Home in Carrollton, Texas. Services will be 2 p.m.
Thursday, March 4, 2004 at Rhoton Funeral Home, with burial to follow at Long
Creek Cemetery near Mesquite, Texas. Dignity Memorial Rhoton Funeral Home I35 at
Crosby Rd. Carrollton |
The Dallas Morning News - March 3, 2004
Submitted by Edward Lynn
Williams
OBITUARY
BARTIE LEE 'BART' LEWIS JR.
Spanish department head at UTA inspired students
Dallas Morning News, The (TX)-March 4, 2004
Author: JOE SIMNACHER, Staff Writer
A high school teacher inspired Bartie Lee "Bart"
Lewis Jr. to study Spanish. He went on to become a Spanish professor who hoped
to pass on his passion to other students.
Dr. Lewis, a former longtime Texas A&M University
professor, was head of the Spanish department at the University of Texas at
Arlington.
He died Sunday of complications from non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma at Medical City Dallas Hospital. He was 57.
Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Rhoton Funeral
Home, 1511 N. Interstate 35E in Carrollton. Burial will be in Long Creek
Cemetery in Sunnyvale.
"He was hoping that he was inspiring others, and he
did," said his sister, Sarah Jackson of Carrollton. "There are people who now
have graduate degrees in Spanish who had him in freshman level in college."
Born in Tripp, Texas, now part of Sunnyvale, Dr.
Lewis moved with his family to Carrollton when he was in the sixth grade.
A Spanish teacher at R.L. Turner High School "created
a love of all things Spanish and Latin American" in Dr. Lewis, his sister said.
Dr. Lewis received his bachelor's degree in Spanish
and sociology at Southern Methodist University and a master's in Spanish and a
doctorate in romance languages from the University of New Mexico.
He taught at Sam Houston State University in
Huntsville. Dr. Lewis spent much of his career at Texas A&M University, where he
received the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Lewis left Texas A&M to teach and help establish
a new campus, California State University-San Marcos. He next taught at Arkansas
College, now Lyon College in Batesville, Ark., where he was a Fulbright
Professor of Modern Languages.
In August 2000, Dr. Lewis decided to move to Dallas
to live closer to his sisters. He was considering retiring when he came upon the
position at UTA, his sister said.
Dr. Lewis, who lived in Dallas, learned that he had
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in August 2001, his sister said. He was hospitalized Jan.
19.
Dr. Lewis published more than 30 articles on Latin
American literature in journals. In April 2003, he published 11 years of
research as a book: The Miraculous Lie: Lope de Aguirre and the Search for El
Dorado in the Latin American Historical Novel.
He was a member of Lovers Lane United Methodist
Church.
In addition to his sister, Dr. Lewis is survived by
another sister, Nancy Lewis Sonntag of Jacksonville, Texas.
Memorials may be made to
the Bart Lewis Memorial Scholarship Fund, University of Texas at Arlington, P.O.
Box 19557, Arlington, Texas 76019; or the Carrollton Public Library, 4220 Josey
Lane, Carrollton, Texas 75010, Attention: Lucille Dade, Hebron Branch Library.
The Dallas Morning News - March 4, 2004
Submitted by Edward Lynn
Williams
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