Palmer G. Lewis, 90, Founded Major Building-Materials Firm

Palmer G. Lewis, who founded one of the nation's major independent building-material distributorships, died Monday at his Mercer Island home after suffering from a long illness. He was 90.

Mr. Lewis started his business in 1940 in Seattle, borrowing $500 from his wife, Louise, and using $200 of his savings for a sales trip to Alaska. He sold materials such as plywood, lumber, plasterboard, roofing and nails to the small but growing Alaska population.

"It had a glamour for me, and it was about the only place for me to sell," Mr. Lewis once recalled in an interview. "Companies down here already had this place sewed up.

"But I was awfully lucky. War-preparedness work was just beginning. And I met a fellow in Kodiak who had been traveling the territory for 19 years. He advised me and introduced me to people, and pretty soon I was getting orders."

He traveled from Nome to southeastern Alaska to Kodiak, where he remembered "cows wandered the dirt streets as nonchalantly as a dog" and chewed the siding off buildings. He promised deliveries by barge, freighter, airline and dog sled.

First-year sales totaled about $40,000, and in later years sales grew to into the millions.

Mr. Lewis was born in China in 1904 and graduated in 1929 from the University of Washington. He spent 12 years after college working for others, until he met a salesman who urged him to start his own business.

Thus, Mr. Lewis called up supply companies, offering to sell their products on commission. He remarked, upon leaving for Alaska in 1940, "It was like a crap game, double or nothing."

He believed in providing superior service. "We started out on the idea of providing better and better service to dealers and those we represent," Mr. Lewis said. "We are still working on the same idea."

Mr. Lewis was known for starting board meetings by calling shareholders into the meeting by ringing a cow bell and serving homemade cookies. The company he founded, eventually growing into a publicly held firm, was his principal interest until his retirement in the 1970s.

"He certainly had a great vision and an ability to attract good people around him to make things happen," said his son, Cutler.

He also gave considerable time to community causes. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the College Club of Seattle, the Salvation Army and the National Association of Building Materials Dealers. He was past president of the Seattle and King County Historical Society and the Museum of History and Industry.

As the grandson of Isaac Ives Lewis, a founder of Ketchum, Idaho, he took a special interest in the Ketchum Museum and Library. In 1985, Mr. Lewis was grand marshal of the Wagon Days Parade in Ketchum.

Mr. Lewis enjoyed camping, fishing, photography and wildlife conservation. He was fond of British Columbia and its preservation efforts. And he enjoyed reading books about history, animals and nature.

"I think his biggest accomplishment was starting the company and making it successful," said his wife. "He led a good life and left a legacy that people will remember him for his kindness and generosity."

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Louise; son, Cutler, and daughter-in-law, Stacy, of Bellevue; daughter, Hildegarde Lewis Pierce of Seattle; his grandchildren, Elliott Pierce of Seattle and Louise Pierce Van Delft of St. Charles, Ill., Ann Lewis of Seattle and Alison Lewis of San Diego; and five great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Green's Bellevue Funeral Home, 1215 140th Ave. S.E. The family suggests remembrances to the Salvation Army or the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.