Dr. Claude Bernard Lewis

Stearns County Medical Doctor, Brother of "Harry" Sinclair Lewis. Claude's and Sinclair's boyhood home is in Sauk Centre. The home Claude lived in at St. Cloud still stands on the campus of St. Cloud State University also known as the "Atwood" or SCSU "Alumni House". The Claude Lewis family plot is located at the North Star Cemetery in St.Cloud Minnesota

Dr. Claude B. Lewis was one of the people responsible for the establishment of the School for Nurses in St. Cloud.

Lewis was born in Wisconsin. As a child, he moved with his family to Sauk Centre, where his father, Dr. Edward J. Lewis, practiced medicine. After graduating from high school, Lewis taught at Little Sauk for a year. He then entered the University of Minnesota. After graduating in 1900, he attended Rush Medical School in Chicago, receiving his degree in 1903.

Lewis moved to St. Cloud in 1905 and entered into a partnership with Dr. J.B. Dunn. He also worked with Dr. M.J. Kern and later, for many years, was a member of the Lewis-Stangl Clinic in association with Dr. F.E. Stangl and Dr. William L. Freeman. After semi-retirement, Lewis maintained an office in the Richards-Donaldson Clinic in association with Dr. W.B. Richards and Dr. C.S. Donaldson.

The School for Nurses was first connected with St. Raphael's Hospital and then St. Cloud Hospital. After a fire destroyed the upper floor of St. Raphael's Hospital, Lewis arranged for the selection of an architect for the building's reconstruction and planned the purchase of modern equipment. He also set up a new system of records.

Always interested in the woods and fields, Lewis at one time owned and supervised several farms. He also was a hunter and fisherman and on many occasions took trips with his friends to Lake of the Woods and adjacent areas in Canada.

He traveled Europe with his brother, author Sinclair Lewis, and continued to travel around the world. He wrote descriptions of his travels and gave colorful lectures about the countries he visited.

Source: Biographical files, Stearns History Museum