Gerald Lewis, 85, documentary filmmaker, March 11

Gerald "Jerry" H. Lewis of Wilton, who had been a documentary filmmaker who shot anti-Communist movies in Vietnam before America went to war there and later operated a local limousine service, died Thursday, March 11, at Norwalk Hospital. A former Ridgefielder, he was 85 years old and the husband of Margaret Byron Lewis.

A former NBC cameraman, Mr. Lewis had worked for the U.S government in Vietnam in the late 1950s, producing propaganda films. When he moved to Ridgefield in the early 1960s, he spent two years hand-building his own log house on Harvey Road, living most of the time with his family in a trailer alongside the house.

"I promised my wife that when we were ready to settle down and build a house, I’d build her exactly what she wanted," he said in a 1964 interview. "But I certainly had no idea it would lead to this!"

A native of Norwalk, Mr. Lewis was born on Oct. 14, 1914, the son of the Rev. Chapman S. and Eleanor Hall Lewis. His father had been the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Norwalk.

Mr. Lewis spent much of his life as a freelance photographer and movie producer. During the 1940s and early 1950s, he worked for NBC as a cameraman.

From 1957 to 1959, he was the motion picture officer of the American Embassy in Saigon. His job included making anti-Communist movies to be shown in South Vietnamese theaters. In the process he became closely acquainted with South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem. "The president was a bug on films," Mr. Lewis said later.

When he returned to the United States, Mr. Lewis selected a site on Harvey Road and began building a log and stucco house that had walls up to three feet thick. Construction was one almost entirely by hand – the only electric tool he owned was a small drill.

"It took us ten days just to raise the four main beams," Mr. Lewis said. Each log was 28 feet long, 20 inches in diameter, and weighed close to 800 pounds. Strengths had to be calculated. While modern manual lacked information on breaking strength of wood beams, the Ridgefield Library provided a book that had a mathematical formula for determining breaking strengths. It was published in 1775.

While living here, Mr. Lewis operated the One Man Lab, a color photography print laboratory. In the 1970s he established the Urban Driver Service, which he operated for 25 years.

He moved to Wilton in 1981.

Besides his wife, Margaret Bryon Lewis, he is survived by a son, Chapman Lewis of Florida; two daughters, Shari Gropper of California and Darline Sugarman of Medford, Mass.; a brother, Lawrence Lewis of Rowayton; and two grandchildren.

Memorial services and burial in Riverside Cemetery, Wilton, will be private.

The Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home in Stamford is in charge of arrangements.