Inside the bright yellow walls of Joe Lewis’ Portland law firm, he wasn’t shy about sharing his love for his co-workers.

Joe Lewis, a Portland attorney, died after he was hit by a car Friday in the Old Port. Photo courtesy of Maryellen Sullivan

He was charismatic, charming and only serious when inside the courtroom, said his wife, Maryellen Sullivan.

Lewis died after being hit by a car Friday afternoon in the Old Port. Sullivan said he was walking back to his office on Moulton Street when the driver of an SUV that had just turned onto India Street hit him, giving him a severe head injury.

“He was well aware of how careless cars could be, so he was really careful,” Sullivan said. “He, in fact, would lecture me if I wasn’t careful enough.”

Portland police confirmed Monday that Lewis, 61, died after he was taken to the hospital.

A spokesperson for the department said the driver, whom officials identified as a 69-year-old woman, is not facing any charges at this time.

Lewis was the second pedestrian killed in Portland in the past few months. A Connecticut woman died in November after she was hit by a car at the intersection of Franklin and Congress streets. The driver in that case, a 36-year-old Portland man, was also not charged.

Paul Drinan, active transportation director for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, which advocates for pedestrian and bicyclist safety, said it is uncommon for charges to be filed in crashes like these, even at intersections where there seem to be no visual obstructions.

But he said Maine crash data is hard to analyze and may not present the full story of what may have happened. A state crash report for Lewis’ death was not available Monday.

A LOVING FATHER

Lewis was a family attorney at Port City Legal, where he worked with his wife. In his biography on the firm’s website, he described himself as a determined “fighter by nature” who loved Portland’s culture, cuisine and friendly people.

A family man, Lewis was close with daughter Mackenzie Lewis, 27, and son Anthony Lewis, 29. And Sullivan said he thought of her children, 29-year-old Ellison Sullivan Etnier and 27-year-old Emma Sullivan Etnier, as his “bonus” children rather than stepchildren.

Anthony Lewis said in an email Monday that his father was gentle and thoughtful.

“He was blessed with a shimmering intellect and a relentless spirit, and never hesitated to tell his wife he loved her, or my sister and me that he was proud of us,” Anthony Lewis said. “I feel lucky to have called him Dad, and would urge anyone reading this now to give those closest to you a big, strong, verging-on-too-tight hug. You just never know when your last chance will come.”

Joe Lewis and his wife, Maryellen Sullivan, at Mount Kineo in 2020. Photo courtesy of Emma Sullivan Etnier

Mackenzie Lewis said she will always remember the vacation she took to Montana last year with her dad, whom she described as a “moral lamppost,” loving mentor and the best father one could ask for.

Emma Sullivan Etnier said when she was first getting to know Lewis, he brought her to the courthouse to watch one of his hearings. He told the court marshals that he’d brought his “bonus daughter” along, and ever since then, she’d kept him in her phone as “bonus dad.”

Sullivan said she met Lewis at a law school alumni event at Sonny’s Restaurant. He noticed her and gave her his phone, asking her to put her number in. He waited exactly 36 hours to call her, she said.

They had their first date at his favorite restaurant, Paciarino, where they soon celebrated some of his birthdays and held their wedding reception.

“He was just good at words and full of love. It wasn’t an act, it wasn’t a ploy, it was just who he was,” Sullivan said. “He just became better and better at it the longer I knew him. Finally finding someone he loved as much as he loved me just allowed him to blossom in a way that, maybe he hadn’t before.”

She said he daydreamed about meeting his future grandchildren and sharing his love with them.

“What made him so unique, though, was his willingness to fight tirelessly through adversity for the people and values he held dear,” Anthony Lewis said. “His most consistent advice for my sister and me was to be generous, and to be gentle.”

Joe Lewis with his daughter Mackenzie and son Anthony in 2001. Photo courtesy of Anthony Lewis

PRACTICING LAW

Sullivan said Lewis was a creative, smart man with an inquisitive mind. Before he attended law school at the University of Maine, he ran his own business, working with geographic information systems. As an attorney, she said, he changed dozens of his clients’ lives.

“He wasn’t a mean lawyer; he didn’t pull dirty tricks on people,” Sullivan said. “He just used the law and his brain and his ability to craft beautiful sentences to advocate for people who really needed his help.”

Lewis was generous with his employees, too, and they had fun together, she recalled. He once recruited the firm to take a costumed photo for an advertisement in a Mad Horse Theatre Company playbill. They stood on the steps of the courthouse, wearing white bedsheets as makeshift togas and reading law books.

Sullivan said Lewis loved the camaraderie of the law community in Portland, where all of the courthouse marshals and clerks knew him.

Cumberland County District Attorney Jacqueline Sartoris said Lewis was her classmate at the University of Maine School of Law. They graduated together as nontraditional students who were older than their other classmates.

Joe Lewis stands outside of the courthouse in Portland after winning his first oral argument in 2014. Photo courtesy of Anthony Lewis

Lewis was chosen to speak at the 2010 graduation, and he kept in touch with many of his old classmates, Sullivan said. Sartoris said he was “larger than life” and always happy to attend late-night study sessions and parties.

While the two sometimes butted heads when they were younger, Sartoris said she came to appreciate their relationship and thought of Lewis as a trustworthy friend. They reconnected after school, and she said he strongly supported her campaign for district attorney in 2022.

Sartoris described Lewis as a doting husband and father who was always talking about how proud he was of his children.

Law professor Nancy Wanderer said Lewis was a student in her legal research and writing class, made up of about 80 first-year students. She said while many students struggled with the class, Lewis often contributed to discussions and encouraged others to enroll.

Wanderer recalled hearing Lewis’ voice echoing in the law school’s old circular building while he led new students on a tour. She said he was a personable, positive man who “added a lot of good energy to the world.”

She said they built a “great friendship” after and stayed connected on Facebook, where she read about him succeeding in his career.

“I think the fighting he did for his clients would be similar to the things he would say when he walked by my door,” Wanderer said. “When he believed in something or somebody, he didn’t hesitate to say it.”

A memorial fund in Lewis’ honor is in the works with the University of Maine School of Law. Please visit portcitylegal.com or email info@portcitylegal.com for more information.

A spray-painted memorial message in honor of Joe Lewis is seen at the intersection of India and Fore streets in Portland on Monday. Lewis, a Portland attorney, died after being hit by a car Friday near the location of the memorial. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald