A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Lew Butler had an incredible career that touched the lives of many in the Bay Area, the US, and abroad. He served as the head of the Peace Corps in Malaysia, as well as the US Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He was also a peace activist who helped establish and lead numerous nonprofits and foundations.
Lew, who passed away on Friday, May 24, at the age of 97, was also a close friend and mentee of SFF co-founder Daniel E. Koshland Sr. (former CEO of Levi Strauss & Co). Following Koshland’s death in 1979, Lew helped create the Koshland Civic Unity Fellowship Program, which, more than 40 years later, continues to invest in community leadership as SFF’s longest-running program.
“The great challenge for the Bay Area is to do as much as you can to keep people from being hurt by all the success of the Bay Area,” he told SFF in 2021, when we sat down with him to record an oral history interview. Thank you, Lew, for your tireless work to make the world an inclusive place for all.
Lew Butler speaking about SFF co-founder Daniel E. Koshland Sr. at an an SFF event in 2018. Current Director of the Koshland Program, Retha Robinson, stands beside him. Photo: Ling Woo Liu
