In Memoriam: Frances Lewis P’66, Trustee Emerita

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
January 28, 2026

Frances Aaronson Lewis P'66, trustee emerita of Washington and Lee University, died on Jan. 10, 2026, in Richmond, Virginia. She was 103.

Frances Lewis was born on June 27, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, to Nathaniel and Lillian Beller Aaronson. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., in 1938, before earning her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Michigan.

Frances Lewis married Sydney Lewis '40, '43L, P'66 in 1942. The couple had three children, Sydney Lewis Jr. '66, Andrew Lewis and Susan Butler, who served on the Washington and Lee Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2003.

The Lewises founded Best Products Company, Inc. in the mid-1950s. What started as a mail order catalog retailer in Henrico County, Virginia, grew to have showrooms across America, reaching $1 billion in sales in 1982. Sydney Lewis and Frances Lewis served as chairman and vice chairman of Best Products, respectively. At the time, Best Products offered an entirely new business concept where they sold discounted merchandise at wholesale prices, avoiding fair-trade laws that required retailers to sell products at manufacturer-set prices. This brought them a loyal customer base, which expanded with the repeal of fair-trade laws in the 1970s. They then used the success of their company to give back philanthropically to educational and artistic institutions.

Sydney Lewis served on the Board of Trustees at Washington and Lee University from 1972 to 1983, becoming an emeritus member in 1984. Frances Lewis joined the board in 1984 and served until 1989. In 1990, the couple were members of the university's National Campaign Steering Committee for the On the Shoulders of Giants capital campaign. In 1972, the Lewises gave $9 million to the W&L School of Law toward the construction of a new law building and a permanent endowment for a law center. Sydney Lewis Hall opened in 1976, and the Frances Lewis Law Center, which supports research and scholarship of W&L Law faculty, opened in 1978. Additionally, the Lewises donated generously to W&L's Leyburn Library and for the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Archives at the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library. The couple made substantial gifts to support student financial aid, including endowing a scholarship in honor of former university president John D. Wilson and creating the Frances and Sydney Lewis Honor Scholarship program. They were honored on the university's Benefactors Wall in 1982 for their generous and longstanding support of Washington and Lee.

Frances Lewis valued education and was a member of the Richmond Public School Board and the Virginia State Board of Education. She also served on committees for the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the city of Richmond, was a trustee for the Virginia Environmental Endowment and was a member of the Exhibitions Committee at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the United Way Capital Funds Board and the Judaic Culture Advisory Committee at Virginia Commonwealth University. She was bestowed an honorary Doctor of Letters from Virginia Union University in 1977 and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1983.

Frances Lewis was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Sydney Lewis; her sister, Helene Fisher; and grandson, David Lewis. She is survived by her children, Susan Lewis Butler (Dixon) of Washington, D.C., Sydney Lewis Jr. '66 of Miami Beach, Florida, and Andrew Marc Lewis (Virginia "Ginny") of Richmond and Lake Worth Beach, Florida; grandchildren, William Lewis Butler, Evora Butler Barren (Glenn), Isaac Dixon Butler (Anne Love), L. Lee Butler, Drew Lewis (Pauline), Kim Usry (Gary Fralin) and Lora Usry; great-grandchildren, Hailey Nicole Brookman (Bobby), Iris Marion Love Butler, Overton Markel Butler and Kyle Josiah Butler; and great-great-grandchild, Lillian Frances Leigh Brookman.

There will be a private funeral followed by a celebration of life later in the year. In lieu of flowers, the Lewis family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Jewish Federation of Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Frances Lewis Law Center at Washington and Lee University, or any charity of your choice.

Lewis' full obituary was published by Bliley's Funeral Home .