Lewis Eugene Blue

With family holding his hands, Lewis Eugene Blue, age 89, died peacefully on April 25, 2026, at the Hopewell House in Portland, Oregon. He lived a full life, even while battling idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis for his last seven years.

Lew was born October 13, 1936, in the family home in Capron, Oklahoma (current city population: 3), the fifth of six children of Milton and Alice Blue. 

In 1943, the family moved to Vancouver, Washington, where his parents worked in the shipyards. His father had moved first after selling his service station in Capron; six months later, his mother drove five children and the family dog over 1,700 miles so the family could be reunited. After World War II ended in 1945, the family moved to Dickey Prairie, Oregon, and finally settled in Eugene in 1949. 

Lew attended Eugene High School (now South Eugene High School), where he was a class officer and cheerleader, graduating in 1954. He went on to the University of Oregon, where he was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity and served as junior class president. He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree from the University of Oregon School of Dentistry (now OHSU School of Dentistry) in 1961. 

He served in the Army for three years, first as a dental intern at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, and then as a dentist with the First Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. He was called into active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis and made it as far as the Manhattan, Kansas train depot before the order was called off. 

In 1964, Lew returned to Eugene to establish his dental practice. Over the years, Lew served as president of the Lane County Dental Society, president of the Oregon Academy of General Dentistry, and was appointed to two four-year terms on the Oregon Board of Dentistry. He sold his practice and retired from dentistry in 1997 at age 61. Before moving to Portland in 2025 to be closer to his daughter, he had been a member of the Eugene Country Club for 49 years, and of the Lane Leaders Association business group and Central Lutheran Church for more than 50 years. He organized Eugene High School Class of 1954 reunions for 70 years and remained a lifelong Duck fan and supporter. 

Lew met Judy Hewett, a first-year dental hygiene student, in the dental school elevator in 1960. After she received her degree in 1962, they married. During their 64 years together, they played golf, enjoyed their cabin at Black Butte Ranch, and traveled, with especially fond memories of a trip to Africa with the Yorks and Larsens.

Lew and Judy have two children, Beth Gilstrap (Brian) and Tom Blue (Tracy); four granddaughters, Sarah Gilstrap, Abby Gilstrap, Kaylen Kociela (Griffen) and Hollie Weir (Bailey); and three great-grandchildren, Juniper, Reece, and Miles. He was predeceased by his parents, daughter Susan, sisters Rosalie, Wanda, Wanita, and his brother Jim. He is survived by his sister Barbara. 

Lew loved his friends and family deeply and often choked up when trying to express his feelings. Humor, though, came easier. He loved telling a good joke—and bad ones, too—and he had a twinkle in his eye and a great sense of humor until the end. 

He will be privately interred at Central Lutheran Church in Eugene. In lieu of flowers, donations in Lew’s honor can be made to End of Life Choices Oregon, Hopewell House, and Legacy Hospice, organizations that cared for him during his final months. 

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