Inducted in 2017
Jo Anne Meade Lewis is an artist, interior designer, and an advocate for children, education and the arts. She has been a community organizer and bridge builder in a variety of cultures. After graduating from Oklahoma State University, Jo Anne taught elementary school in St. Louis. She lived throughout the Midwest following her husband’s career moves and raising two children. In Chicago, she organized her neighbors to provide a school lunch program for elementary school children. In Charleston, West Virginia, she served as president of Pi Beta Phi Alumnae providing scholarship funds and reading materials for youth. After her children left home, she went to work for Phillips Petroleum Company in the Public Affairs Department where she met her current husband, George Lewis. In 1983, they moved to Singapore where Jo Anne assisted Americans in adjusting to Southeast Asian culture.
Her volunteer work includes Boy Scouts of America and Girls Scouts of America, docents at Woolaroc Museum and Philbrook Museum, Bartlesville Art Association, and currently the Will Rogers High School Community Foundation where she has served as president. While in Bartlesville, she also was a key player in the reincarnation of Price Tower and created the Museum Store where she served as director and buyer. She donated her interior design talents to the redecorating of a Safe House for abused women. Jo Anne’s accomplishments are a result of her freedom to volunteer her time and talent within the nonprofit world. Her passion has been to encourage and strengthen the aspirations and accomplishments of young people. Her desire to promote the arts has been her work in every community she has resided.
