Lillian Miles Lewis, wife or Rep. John Lewis, dies at 73

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LillianMiles Lewis, the wife, friend and political adviser of U.S. Rep. John Lewisdied Monday at Emory University Hospital. She was 73.

LillianLewis apparently had been ill for an extended period of time but encouraged herhusband to continue with his career, representing Atlanta and Buckhead in theU.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. John Lewis and wife Lillian Miles Lewis in earlier days.
Photo from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lewismet her future husband when he was already a civil rights legend, and sheplayed a key role in his transition to a career in politics, according to anews obituary that appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
LillianLewis, whose father owned a small contracting business, attended Los AngelesHigh School with the late Johnny Cochran and received an undergraduate degreein English from then-California State College at Los Angeles and a master’sdegree in library science at the University of Southern California.
Shedeveloped a lifelong interest in Africa when she taught in a student program inNigeria in 1960, returning later as a Peace Corps volunteer to teach for twoyears in Yaba, Nigeria.
It wasafter taking a job as a librarian at Atlanta University that she met herhusband at a 1967 New Year’s Eve party.
She andJohn Lewis began a courtship, often double-dating with Julian and Alice Bond,movement friends who would become bitter rivals when Bond and Lewis opposedeach other in a 1986 congressional race.
TheLewises were married in 1968.
Mrs.Lewis is survived by her husband and her son, John-Miles Lewis. 
To read the full AJC obituary, go here.