THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604060277
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE AND ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
A Central Intelligence Agency employee from Chesapeake, one of the 35 victims of the plane crash that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, was extolled by his colleagues Friday as a restless intellectual with a zest for life.
James M. Lewek, 44, a 20-year CIA veteran, lived in Great Bridge with his wife and two young children.
``There are some people you seek out to replenish yourself, and he was one of them,'' said John Gannon, the CIA's deputy director of intelligence. ``I found him a tremendously positive influence on my own morale as well as the morale of the people working with him.''
Lewek was an intelligence analyst in the CIA's Office of European Analysis, specializing in Eastern European economics. He was traveling with Brown's delegation to the former Yugoslavia as part of a special assignment for an interagency Balkan task force based in the office of CIA Director John M. Deutch. Lewek was to brief Brown on the Bosnian economy.
There were no survivors in Wednesday's crash of an Air Force plane outside Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Lewek's expertise was in economic reconstruction, which U.S. officials see as a prerequisite for a lasting peace in Bosnia.
In a statement to CIA employees, Deutch called Lewek ``a superb analyst'' who ``volunteered his service in that dangerous part of the world.''
``Everyone who knew Jim was struck by his concern for others, his willingness to be a team player, and his strong commitment to family,'' Deutch said.
Lewek and his family moved to Chesapeake from Northern Virginia in 1990, when he was recruited to take a leave of absence from the CIA and work in then-Gov. Gerald Baliles' Virginia Department of World Trade, at the World Trade Center in downtown Norfolk.
William B. Brown, a former CIA analyst and Lewek's good friend, was a supervisor in the department.
``He did a great job for us down here,'' Brown said. ``Very energetic and talented.''
When Gov. L. Douglas Wilder abolished the office, Lewek returned to the CIA. But his home and family remained in Chesapeake while he commuted to CIA headquarters.
For five years, Lewek headed the overnight production team that produced the president's daily intelligence briefing - a publication known in the CIA as ``The Book.''
``That's where he established a reputation all over the directorate as a smart guy on substance, but also having a very fine touch with people,'' Gannon said. ``From the tremendous outpouring that I am seeing now for Jim, it's very clear that what I always knew, so did a lot of other people - that is, that he had tremendous interpersonal skills. He just had a way of bringing people together as a team.''
Lewek was on the CIA team that went to Little Rock, Ark., to brief President-elect Clinton after his election in 1992. He had also briefed Vice President Al Gore.
``He was a guy who had a tremendous number of interests,'' Gannon said. ``He was a musician and a terrific bridge player. Late nights, after we got The Book to bed, he would go to the galley here and cook a late-night dinner for everybody on the staff.
``He loved life and lived it to its fullest.''
His friend William Brown, referring to Lewek's contribution to getting U.S. businesses interested in investing in the former Yugoslavia, said, ``I think it's a great service that he was trying to do.''
Lewek was a native of Cheektowaga, N.Y., near Buffalo, where he was valedictorian of his high school class. He held a master's degree in economics from Vanderbilt University, and had done all the course work necessary for a doctorate.
The crash victims' bodies are being flown to the Air Force Base at Dover, Del., where the families will be asked to identify them.
Lewek is survived by his wife of 19 years, Pamela; their 5-year-old son, Jeffrey; and their 7-year-old daughter, Annie.
He will be buried in Chesapeake next week after a Catholic Mass, which has not yet been scheduled. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
James M. Lewek, 44, lived in Great Bridge with his wife, Pamela,
and their two children, Annie, 7, and Jeffrey, 5.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE DEATH by CNB