Joe Lewis

PORTLAND – Joe Lewis of Portland, died Jan. 3, 2025. A beloved husband, father, Portlander, friend, neighbor, and attorney, Joe was 61.

Born in Evansville, Indiana, of Jacqueline Lewis (Guccione), Joe also lived in Connecticut before his family settled in Bergen County for his formative years, cementing his identity as a New Yorker. Joe got his BA from Fordham in 1986, where he lived in the Bronx and started making Sunday gravy. Joe worked in NYC and the Bay Area, where honed his sales and mapmaking skills. In Brooklyn, he formed Decision Support Services, a GIS company, and put his strong intellect and entrepreneurial spirit to work. Joe had his two children there, sources of pride and joy ever since.

Joe moved to Portland in 1999 with his young family. He quickly grew to love Maine, embracing winter by constructing an ice rink in his backyard. He earned his JD from the University of Maine School of Law in 2010 and then started Port City Legal. Joe grew PCL to a small but mighty firm emphasizing respect and compassion for its clients while making a home for its employees. He changed many clients’ lives with his tremendous advocacy and wise counsel. A vital presence in the Portland legal community and friend to lawyers and court staff alike, Joe was a founding member of the Katahdin Counsel Recognition Program, devoting hours to Mainers in need of advocacy.

Joe was a life force, impacting all who knew him. Generous with friends and strangers, he excelled at making meaningful human connections. He had an enormous and voracious intellect, devouring information from medieval history to the secrets of the cosmos. He was a talented and inventive cook, drawing on local restaurant favorites, Maine’s bounty of fish, and his travels – injecting love (and garlic) into every dish. Joe was both gentle and a born fighter, a heady combination. Joe loved long summer days at the Scarborough Beach, cooking for friends and family, and giving much of his time to his wife. He planned their joyous adventures in Sardinia, Sicily, and Turkey; they regularly visited Quebec City and Acadia National Park, and he was in the process of discovering Maine’s best hiking trails. He treasured time with his daughter at a Montana horse ranch and was planning a chartered sail of the Croatian coast, with dreams of months exploring southern seas to come. Most of all, Joe was magnificent at being human and seeing, appreciating, and giving love.

Joe is survived by his children, Anthony Joseph and Mackenzie Mae, and his bonus-children, Emma and Ellison, as well as his wife and love of his life: Maryellen. 

Visiting hours will be held on January 17, from 4-7 p.m., at the Conroy Tully Walker Funeral Home of South Portland, 1024 Broadway. A Celebration of Life will be held on January 18, at 2 p.m., at Grace, 15 Chestnut Street, Portland. He will rest at Evergreen Cemetery, where he used to take long walks with his children and their beloved dog, Buddy. To express condolences please visit http://www.ConroyTullyWalker.com.