Jeffrey Lewis Obituary

Jeffrey DuVall Lewis passed away on Saturday, December 6, 2025, two weeks shy of his 71st birthday, in Washington, DC near Bethesda, Maryland, where he lived for almost 35 years.
Jeff leaves behind his loving wife of more than 20 years, Elizabeth Marion 'Beth' McKeever Lewis; his brother, John R. 'Jay' Lewis; and his sister, Willa Todd 'Toddie' Lewis-Dawdy. He was loved and supported by his five children: Jessica (Jacob) Kuperstock; Cameron (Megan) Lewis; Myriah Bash; Gabbie (Eric) Pelloni; and Laura (Alex) Pirrotta. Jeff was an enthusiastic cheerleader for his nine grandchildren: EJ, Sophia, Owen, MacKenzie, Fiona, Eli, Hazel, Hayes, and Colby, with a tenth on the way. His first marriage to Christine Anne Costello, with whom he shared two children (Jessica and Cameron), ended after 15 years.
Jeff was born to John DuVall Lewis and Barbara Doris Lewis (née Evans) in Winchester, Massachusetts, on December 22, 1954. He was raised in Connecticut, New Jersey, and California, earning the rank of Eagle Scout while living in Fullerton, California and recognition as a National Merit Scholar before graduating from Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey (1973). He earned a B.A. in economics from Harvard University (1977) and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University (1986).
In 1984, Jeff became an Institute Associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) where he stayed for nine years, including five years as a resident advisor on macro, fiscal, trade, and debt issues in the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, as well as consulting in Colombia, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Turkey, Uganda, and Zambia on areas including exchange rates and trade policy, stabilization and structural adjustment policies, and regional trade arrangements.
In 1993, Jeff moved his family to Bethesda to join the World Bank in Washington, DC, where he spent the remainder of his career in various capacities. He served as a country economist on Indonesia, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, then led work on South Africa analyzing growth prospects, trade reform, the macro impact of HIV/AIDS, and Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional integration. In the Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Network, he managed engagement with key external shareholder groups, such as the G7/G8, G20, G24, and APEC, and monitored global financial market trends and their implications for developing countries. In the Chief Economist's office, he supported initiatives on global trends, trade, international finance, migration, aid, and climate change. As Director of the Economic Policy, Debt and Trade Department, he promoted sustainable growth and poverty reduction, positioned the Bank to shape approaches to low-income country debt issues, and led partnerships, global advocacy, and analytic efforts on trade. He retired from the Bank as Global Practice Chief Economist in 2015.
In retirement, Jeff pursued his passion for exploring history and genealogy, bringing to his ancestry the same rigor and commitment that served him throughout his career. He travelled as far as County Donegal, Ireland and as near as the Library of Congress to chase primary sources and unresolved tidbits of family history. He was known to document his findings in dense hardcover anthologies before moving on and relished each marital addition to the family for the opportunity to trace an entirely new lineage. He was an avid lifelong reader of science fiction and a committed puzzler.
After running more than a dozen marathons starting with the Marine Corps Marathon in 1998, he was a dedicated daily walker of the Bethesda Trolley Trail until shortly before his passing, with the oft mentioned dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. He was devoted to his family, irrefutably demonstrating his grandfatherly pride through the sheer variety of novelty T-shirts he owned featuring grandchildren's names and faces (and the frequency with which he wore them).
Overcoming multiple bouts of cancer as far back as 2016, he succumbed peacefully to recurrent lymphoma of the central nervous system surrounded by loved ones. His family will remember him for his wry humor, sharp intellect, and steady manner, punctuated by an outsized guffaw that filled a room. His grandchildren will forever treasure memories of their Grandad's silly jokes, funny faces, and undivided attention. He will be missed by all who knew him.
A memorial service for family and friends will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributors are asked to donate to The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society (lls.org), the World Central Kitchen (wck.org), or the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (appalachiantrail.org).