James "Jimmy" Lewis (1898–1958) was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire on 21 April 1898. In 1912 the Lewis family moved to Canada and settled in Regina. In September 1915 he enlisted in the Canadian Army. Unless the date on his tombstone is incorrect, Lewis lied in his attestation papers and listed his year of birth as 1897. He served with the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) until 1919. In 1919 he settled in Edmonton and then in 1929 he moved to Calgary, where he remained for the duration of his life. In 1933 he and his wife founded Lewis Stationery, which became the largest office supplies company in Calgary. In 1988 Lewis Stationery was acquired by Willson Stationers, a Winnipeg company founded in 1900. Today the Lewis name lives on through the Lewis Lofts, built in the former Lewis Stationery Building on 11 Avenue.

On 16 June 1927 Lewis married Mary Thorburn Wood (1907–1995) at her family's house in Edmonton. Mary hailed originally from St Abbs, Scotland. They had three children: Cecille (Evan Ordze), Moira (John Reid), and James Bruce. James Lewis died on 3 February 1958, age 59, at the Colonel Belcher Hospital.