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Grand Master of Masons in Virginia

Jack Kayle Lewis

178th Grand Master of Masons in Virginia

Jack Kayle Lewis was born on August 6, in Danville, Virginia. He is the son of the late Ben Barker and Violet Newton Lewis and grew up in the tobacco farming region of Pittsylvania County. He is a graduate of Dan River High School and continued his formal education throughout his adult working career. Jack is a 1978 graduate of Danville Community College, received his Bachelors Degree from Averett College and a Masters Degree in Sociology from Longwood College in 2002. He is also a graduate of the School of Police Command at Northwestern University and the University of Richmond’s Executive Leadership Program.

Brother Lewis began his Law Enforcement career with the Danville Police Department in 1975 and was recognized by the Danville Jaycees as the Outstanding Officer in 1977. He joined the Lynchburg Police Department in 1978, and worked in every area of that department, attaining the position of Deputy Chief at his retirement in 2005, when he was selected as the Chief of Police in Apex, North Carolina. Jack retired from the Apex Police Department in January of 2013, and was honored by then Governor Bev Purdue with the Old North State Award and was the 2014 Inductee into the Town of Apex Hall of Fame. He is a Life member of both the North Carolina Police Chiefs Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Jack was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on April 29, 1980, in Kent Lodge No. 305, becoming the third generation of Lewis men in Kent Lodge, following his grandfather, Artwin S. Lewis, his father, Right Worshipful Ben B. Lewis and has since been joined by his son, John Benjamin Lewis, who currently serves as the Junior Deacon. He served as Worshipful Master in 1984, 1988 and 2013, and is currently the Lodge Secretary. Jack was a member of Marshall Lodge No. 39 from 1982 -2001, and has been a dual member of Carter No. 323 since 2015. Brother Lewis is also a member of the Valley of Lynchburg, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite since 1981.

Brother Lewis was appointed by Most Worshipful Wayne Sawyer Flora as the District Deputy Grand Master for the 38th Masonic District in 2014, and currently serves the 38th District as its District Educational Officer. Right Worshipful Brother Lewis was appointed by Most Worshipful Vernon Stuart Cook as the Grand Junior Steward in 2016 and was elected to the office of Grand Junior Deacon in November 2017.

Brother Jack and his wife, the former Barbara Faye Holland, were married on January 4, 1976, and they have one son, J. Benjamin Lewis, who resides in Chatham with his wife Nikki and their two children, Charlotte Paige (Charley) Lewis and Jackson Bennett Lewis. Brother Jack and Barbara live in the Spring Garden area of Pittsylvania County near where they both grew up, and there enjoy country living, collecting antiques, and their grandchildren. Brother Lewis has been a member of Kentuck Baptist Church in Ringgold, Virginia for over fifty years.