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New York-based Filipina industrialist honors the memory of her late husband through social philanthropy
APART from the memorials and monuments such as The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore, The Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center in Harvard University, the Reginald F. Lewis High School of Business and Law, and The Lewis College in Sorsogon City, Philippines, there’s no greater measure of the value of a man’s life than the progress of another’s because of it.
By his own declaration, R. Donahue Peebles, the most successful African American entrepreneur in real estate would not be who he is today, if someone whom he’s never met, lived before him. And it doesn’t matter that Peebles heard about the man, long after Reginald F. Lewis, passed away in 1993.
"Before I read the book, Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun, Reginald Lewis’ biography, I didn’t know what was possible. But when I read the book, I learned what could be done and what it takes to get here." Peebles said in his speech accepting the Reginald F. Lewis Award for successful African American entrepreneurs under the age of 50. Peebles now 49, owns large real developments in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami Beach, totaling $4 billion dollars worth of luxury hotels, high-rise residential and top-of-the-line commercial properties."We all know why we’re here. But who brought us here is very very important. This is what partnership in life is, what marriage is. Reginald Lewis got us started, Loida Lewis took us on this journey. I am where I am today because a book was written about Reginald’s life, and someone introduced me to it: Loida Nicolas Lewis."
