Coach, former Marble Falls player Bob Lewis was a true leader

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

ROUND MOUNTAIN — He led with a handshake, reaching out, grabbing your hand with a solid squeeze and a “Hey, how are you doing?” or “It’s good to see you.” And he meant those words. 

As Bob Lewis let go and you parted ways, he would reach up and slap you on the shoulder as he walked by.

While some remember him as one of the Mustangs who led the Marble Falls High School football team on a 26-game winning streak from 1954-57 — known as “The Streak” — his real legacy is the kids he coached and taught for 30 years in the Austin Independent School District, including at McCallum and Lanier high schools.

Lewis, born Robert Faubion Lewis, passed away July 21 surrounded by family and his wife of 56 years, Peggy Lewis. He fought a valiant battle against cancer for the last six years. Even with the disease, Lewis continued to show people how to live with strength and love.

His reach can’t be underestimated as evidenced by the more than 400 posts on the Facebook pages of his son, Kip Lewis, and other family members. And the fact that several dozen former players attended a ceremony July 26 at Austin McCallum High School to honor Lewis also speaks of the manner he coached.

But maybe “coaching” isn’t quite what Lewis did all those years. Instead, he helped form teenagers into young men and women.

On the Ramsey Funeral Home guestbook page for Lewis, several former players and colleagues remembered the man.

“He was a good coach and a good man that I had looked up to,” wrote John Rodriguez Jr., who played for Lewis at McCallum High School from 1981-83. “He had truly made an impression on me to live life honestly, work hard and to respect myself and others.

“It was hard to understand that back in high school, but as I have grown up, I have lived by those words and say those words often to my family and others that are in need of wisdom,” Rodriquez continued.

Another player from one of Lewis’ teams recalled dislocating a finger during a game. He described how Lewis left the game and took him to the hospital. Then, the coach sat with him throughout what seemed like the entire night. And every time the young player would wake up from a medication-induced sleep, there was Coach Lewis sitting next to him.

On the Facebook pages, Todd Essary posted about his experience working alongside Lewis in the mid- to late 1980s at McCallum High School.

“I couldn’t possibly express or describe the importance of role, or impact of spirit, that having a small handful of men, like Coach Lewis, has had in my life. And I’m not using the word ‘men’ lightly here,” Essary wrote. “Bob Lewis was a man, absolutely and completely. He demonstrated how I needed to conduct myself if I wanted to earn my stripes as a man.

“He made me want to walk the more demanding and vigilant path that men walk,” Essary continued. “And I love Coach Lewis for that. Not only for that, but especially for it.”

Lewis was born May 19, 1940, in Oatmeal, but his family moved south to Spicewood, a community he would call home for more than 40 years. He learned the value of hard work from his parents, Rudolph and Inez Lewis. His dad farmed and ranched, while his mother was a teacher and a switchboard operator.

In high school, Lewis excelled in athletics. He was the Mustangs quarterback during a golden time in Marble Falls football.

From 1954-57, the Mustangs won 26 consecutive games under head coach Fritz Lehnhoff. Marble Falls finished 1955 and 1956 with 12-0 records. The coach said Lewis “was not only a fine athlete, but one of the finest leaders around. He was an inspiration on and off the field.”

“He was a great competitor,” said Lewis’ cousin Willis “PennyBill” Lewis, who was one of his teammates. “He got everybody to train hard.”

Former Mustangs teammate Myron Wier agreed with Lehnoff about Lewis’ skills as a player.

“He was the best quarterback you’ll ever find,” he said.

The Streak began in the last game of the 1954 season, a 52-14 win against Cherokee, and ended in a 19-13 loss to Florence in 1957 when Lewis suffered a collapsed lung and didn’t play. But he returned the next week to lead the Mustangs to victory.

He was a tough, strong leader, and his teammates recognized that.

“Everybody looked to Bob,” Wier said. “He was a natural leader of the team. He was good at it. We all respected one another on the team.”

“He had a lot of leadership qualities,” said Richard Giesecke, a longtime friend of Lewis. “He took (football) very seriously. He was truly one of the leaders of the team.”

After Lewis graduated in 1958, he played college football at Southwest Texas State University from 1959-62 as a quarterback and a safety. In his first year, he set the record for the longest pass play in the program’s history, 91 yards, which still stands today. He also had the record for the longest kickoff return for almost three decades.

In 1959, Lewis married Peggy, who took note of him in the fourth grade when they both attended a one-room schoolhouse in Spicewood. The two had three children: Kim, Shari Lee and Kip.

After his graduation from Southwest Texas State, Lewis began a 30-year career as a football coach and worked at Austin McCallum and Austin Lanier.

While at McCallum, one of the many coaching friends he made was with University of Texas assistant coach Spike Dykes, who later became the Texas Tech University head coach.

“He was one of the most dedicated coaches I ever knew in my life,” Dykes said. “Whether a player was a star or not, it didn’t make any difference, he treated them all the same. He was one of the most dedicated coaches I ever knew. He loved Marble Falls and loved Marble Falls football. He loved kids so much. I’m a better man for knowing him, I’ll you that.”

Lewis might have later retired, but he never quit coaching or teaching when it came to demonstrating to others — especially his grandchildren — how to live.

Lewis and and his wife settled in the Hill Country. After retiring from coaching, he worked for Giesecke and Giesecke & Associates as a real estate agent for 24 years.

He helped Wier sell his home in Smithwick and buy one in Cole County.

“He had a personality that would blend with anybody and was a pleasant guy to deal with,” Wier said.

Lewis always tried to keep in contact with former teammates and classmates. He would attend the annual Marble Falls High School Alumni Association luncheon the Saturday after each homecoming game. He often brought along Lehnhoff when the elder coach could make it.

But his favorite thing in retirement was probably spending as much time as possible with his six grandchildren. He never missed one of their games or events.

His lessons and love live on in each person with whom he ever crossed paths.

His funeral service was July 26.

The Bob Lewis Memorial scholarship fund has been established for a Marble Falls High School senior who “excels in the classroom, exhibits leadership (and) mental toughness and is a good person on and off the field.” Donations may be sent to Bob Lewis Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Richard Giesecke, P.O. Box 36, Marble Falls, TX 78654.

Read Lewis’ obituary here.

jfierro@thepicayune.com