King’s Birthday Honours: Fred Lewis honoured for philanthropy, services to sports

A private man who doesn’t like a lot of fuss, Fred Lewis said he was honoured to be made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / Liam Clayton

Frederick (Fred) James Lewis has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to philanthropy and sport.

Fred Lewis established and has led Enterprise Motor Group since 1970, through which he has sponsored numerous community organisations and initiatives, locally and nationally, for more than 50 years.

Lewis said he was surprised when he was notified of the honour in the post, and that his wife had nominated him.

He is a private man who doesn’t like a lot of fuss, but said he was honoured to be made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

“I’ve been around a long time and I know a lot of people,” he said.

“I like giving back to the city.”

Lewis was a founding member of the Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club and has been patron since 2005, sponsoring several major community fishing tournaments. He helped facilitate the club’s move into Gisborne and it is now one of the biggest, most successful fishing clubs nationally. He has sponsored satellite tags to track migration of marlin within the Pacific, assisting with research. He has done a lot of deep sea fishing in the Pacific over the years and enjoys taking friends away with him.

In recent years he has funded research by the Matai Medical Research Institute into methamphetamine and brain injury recoveries.

Lewis is an animal lover and has helped people pay to have their dogs and cats de-sexed through the Fred Lewis Enterprise Foundation.

“We work with the SPCA to help people who can’t afford to have their dogs and cats de-sexed. I think we’ve done around 1000 dogs so far.”

He donated money towards the amalgamation of the Gisborne Marist Rugby Club with the Gisborne Old Boys Club in the 1980s and has sponsored Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby and Poverty Bay Rugby.

He was a key funder of the Enterprise pool, an all-seasons facility available to the community, and the Enterprise swim team. He sponsors the Enterprise Community Centre, which hosts major combined school and other competitive fixtures.

Lewis has sponsored three Tairāwhiti golf courses and major tournaments over 20 years, recently funding the installation of a golf simulator.