Lewis Bear Jr., one of Pensacola's biggest philanthropists and political powers, has died at 82
Pensacola businessman and philanthropist Lewis Bear Jr. died early Friday morning at the age of 82.
Bear was the long-time president and CEO of The Lewis Bear Company in Pensacola and a leading force behind much of the region's economic development initiatives.
Friends and collaborators described him as the most powerful political force in Northwest Florida, as a staunch advocate for the people, businesses and the children of Northwest Florida, and as a man whose generosity reached every corner of the community.
"Lewis Bear took a small company and built it into a large locally owned company employing hundreds," said entrepreneur and philanthropist Quint Studer. "His goal was always to build an inclusive community. He and (his wife) Belle woke up every day thinking of ways to help others. There are very few good things in this area that do not have Lewis' fingerprints on them."
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Bear led his family's company since 1990 after joining the business in 1965. The Lewis Bear Company, the oldest privately held corporation in Florida, was started by his great-grandfather in 1876 as a grocery shop and eventually became a grocery distributor and beer distributor for the Anheuser-Busch company.
Bear sold off the grocery distribution business in 1995 to focus on the beer distribution business. At the time of the 1995 sale, the company was one of the largest privately-held companies in Florida in terms of annual revenue.
Bear was also a dedicated member of the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association for more than 35 years, including nearly a decade spent as president.
“The Florida Beer Wholesalers Association would not be where we are today without the service of Lewis Bear. For more than 35 years, Lewis has been a force both within our organization and within his community,” said FBWA President Jared Ross. “We thank Lewis for his tireless dedication and know we will continue honoring his legacy and his example for years to come.”
Bear and his company founded the Bear Family Foundation in 2002, which has awarded millions of dollars in grants to more than 118 local non-profit or charitable causes.
Grover Robinson, former Pensacola mayor and Escambia County commissioner, said that Bear leaves an "amazing legacy" because he was not just concerned with his own success or the success of his family, but the success of Northwest Florida as a whole.
"There's not an area that Lewis didn't touch in some way or another," Robinson said. "And so, while in a lot of ways he's a significant businessman in the area, I think his influence is so much broader than that because he was involved in so many things for our community. And really, the quality of life and the things that we have today we wouldn't have without Lewis Bear and the Bear family."
Giving back to the community
The Bear Foundation's contributions to local nonprofits easily number in the tens of millions, and include a $4.5 million contribution to a new Baptist Health Care health center at Brent Lane and Interstate 110, a $1.75 million donation to the oncology unit at the Studer Family Children's Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart, $1 million to Rally Gulf Coast, an organization dedicated to fighting childhood cancer, and dozens other donations.
Bear was a founding member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida, an organization that has been providing one-to-one mentoring services for children in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties since 1989. With support from the Bear family and foundation, including a $500,000 matching gift, the nonprofit opened a new state of the art headquarters on Creighton Road in 2019.
"It's been more than just the foundation's support, it's been the family as a whole," said Paula Shell, who has led BBBS for more than 25 years. "Mr. Bear and Mrs. Bear were on the founding board that brought Big Brothers Big Sisters to the area, along with other community leaders, but they were a very instrumental part of where we are today. They have always had a family presence on our board, and I just really consider them a true legacy maker to what Big Brothers Big Sisters is all about here in Northwest Florida."
Bear also served on other boards such as the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Escambia County, chairman of the Pensacola Museum of Art, and trustee of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
Martha Saunders, president of the University of West Florida, said Bear served on the university's Board of Trustees for more than a decade and played a major role in the development of the institution's infrastructure, programs and processes.
"He was truly committed to UWF and for that we will be forever grateful," Saunders said. "An awful lot of students have already benefited from his generosity and hard work, and I think more in the future will absolutely benefit as well."
Over the weekend, in a Zoom ceremony with other current and former UWF trustees, Saunders awarded Bear with an honorary doctorate for his character, achievement and contributions to the region.
"It was really great," Saunders said of the ceremony. "That is our highest honor and it's one that can't be bought; it has to be earned and we don't give them out every day. We were really thrilled to be able to award it to him as well. And I think he enjoyed getting it because he told his family he expects everybody to call him doctor from now on."
Saunders said Bear had a "wicked sense of humor," was someone who loved life, who never wavered in his beliefs and who was dedicated to this community with every fiber of his being.
"I don't think there's any part of this community that either he or his family didn't touch and leave better. So, it's not gonna be the same without him."
Former Florida Sen. Don Gaetz said that you would be hard pressed to find a charitable cause in Northwest Florida Bear hadn't supported, and that he often did it without any publicity.
"We have a lot of people in Northwest Florida who are successful business people," Gaetz said. "A small handful of them are generous philanthropists. Lewis is the most generous, probably, of all. And there are a lot of people who could do what he does, but don't."
Promoting and protecting Northwest Florida
Bear was also heavily involved in promoting Pensacola as a place to do business. He served as the long-time chairman of the Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission and chairman of FloridaWest and recently served a term as vice-chairman of Triumph Gulf Coast.
Gaetz credited Bear with protecting Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement funds for Northwest Florida when the rest of the state came clawing at the door.
"A couple of years after I left the Senate, there was an attempt by other politicians to raid that fund, or to diminish it, or put it in the hands of politicians as opposed to true economic development," Gaetz said. "Lewis Bear single-handedly marshalled the forces necessary to save that billion and a half dollars for Northwest Florida business development and Northwest Florida job development. He did that without without any publicity, without any fanfare and without ever thumping his chest. He just did it."
Bear frequently donated to Republican candidates in races from Congress to the County Commission.
Gaetz said Lewis has been on a first name basis with each of the state's past four governors, and that his name carried immense influence in the Legislature and with the leaders across Florida.
"He is the single most important person in Northwest Florida when it comes to political influence, and he has never used that influence for his own benefit," Gaetz said. "He's never run for office. No member of his family ever has. ... He's used his influence and used the power of his personality to benefit Northwest Florida time and time again."
Bear sometimes had a reputation for being gruff and stern, but those who knew him said he was a person who said what he meant, did what he said and expected the same of others.
Collier Merrill, a prominent real estate developer and restaurateur, said he met Bear about 30 years when they served on the Pensacola Museum of Art board together. He said Bear became a good friend and mentor, and he still remembers a piece of advice Bear gave him early on in their friendship.
"Don't do something that, at the end of the day, if it's one the front page of the News Journal that you wouldn't stand behind it," Merrill said.
"Some people say Lewis is tough, and Lewis can be tough, don't get me wrong," Merrill said. "But if you're up front with Lewis on what you're trying to do and you've got him on your side, there's just absolutely no better person to have behind your back."
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Bear married his wife Belle Yates Bear in 1966, and the couple had three children, Lewis Bear III, Cindi Bear Bonner and David Bear; and four grandchildren, Lauren, Chad, Julia and Max.
Everyone who discussed Bear's legacy said his generosity is shared by family, noting his wife and children have been active and involved in local boards and charities from Impact 100, to Big Brothers Big Sisters, to Arc Gateway, to Rally Gulf Coast.
"It's nice to see everything that little Lewis and David and Cindi are doing in the community, as well as just picking right up from what their father's done," Merrill said.
Former Mayor Robinson said it was a family tradition he expects to live on.
"Lewis has done what his family's done for generations, and they've been in this community making it better," Robinson said. "I do think he took it to a different level than it ever had been, but whether it was Bears past or Bears future, I would expect them to be very involved in helping make Northwest Florida a better place."
A visitation will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 9, at Temple Beth El. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, March 10, at Temple Beth El with a gravesite service immediately following at Temple Beth El cemetery.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Lewis Bear Jr. died in Pensacola after career at Lewis Bear Company
