LGBTQ community leader, volunteer, and philanthropist Jeff Lewy died on July 31, 2023, a day before his 81st birthday.
He served in various volunteer leadership positions at Horizons Foundation, including serving as Board Chair. Roger Doughty, the President of Horizons, told the San Francisco Bay Times: “Jeff was kind, generous, caring, passionate, seemingly indefatigable, warm, thoughtful. He was a pillar of support for multiple community organizations, and for none more so than Horizons Foundation. And Jeff was not ‘just’ a board or committee member: he was an active one. He always came prepared. He was 100% engaged, every single time.”
Doughty added, “Jeff was deeply proud of who he was as a gay man, and of our LGBTQ community. He knew and he lived and he treasured our history, even with its pain. More than once, I heard him talk movingly about tearing whole pages from his address book during the hardest days of AIDS. He loved the LGBTQ community with every fiber of his being and lived that love in a hundred ways.
Living and giving as he did, over and over and over again, Jeff gave still one more gift to countless people: the gift of inspiration. He gently called on others to share his passions and inspired so many with the stellar example that he set. I gratefully count myself among them.”
Doughty concluded, “Everyone at Horizons and countless others send their condolences to Jeff’s beloved husband of more than 40 years, Ed Eishen.”
Lewy worked in the aviation industry for most of his career. Upon retiring at age 53, he dedicated his life to board service, fundraising, and mentoring others in the LGBTQ community. As part of honoring his legacy, donations may be made to Horizons Foundation or to the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.
In Memoriam
Published on September 21, 2023
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