As we learned from a reader yesterday, Goldy Lewis, the "Mother of Inland Empire Suburbia" died on Tuesday. She was 84. The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that Lewis died of natural causes in Upland. Lewis is credited with helping to spread suburbia to the previously untamed 909 area code. For USC and UCLA planning and policy nerds, you may also recognize her name from the buildings where you study.
Lewis and her husband [Ralph] have left a palpable and lasting legacy in California and its neighboring states. More than 60,000 homes and apartments have been built under the Lewis Homes name, and about half are in the Inland Empire. Lewis was instrumental in creating beautiful and comfortable family homes, and as director of design, Goldy Lewis also supervised estimating and purchasing.The Lewis sons now run the family business developing planned communities under the name Lewis Group of Companies.
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"The couple's mark is left all over but particularly in Rancho Cucamonga," said Mayor Alexander, a family friend who was also a classmate of Lewis' son, Richard. "The city has benefited from their extreme intelligence."Other civic groups and parks named for the couple include The Goldy and Ralph Lewis Education Center at Temple Beth Israel in Pomona, Lewis Park in Claremont, Lewis Family Park in Las Vegas and Ralph & Goldy Lewis Library at Colony High School in Ontario.
The two UCLA graduates also donated to their alma mater and its rival USC, where Ralph attended graduate school courses and eventually taught. Also named after them are The Ralph & Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy at UCLA and Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall at USC.
· Matriarch of housing company dies [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin]