A Celebration of Life for Lewis Cosby III will be held at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 12, 2025. Mr. Cosby died on June 19 at age 75.
I considered Lewis a friend, but until reading his obituary didn’t realize how little about him I actually knew. His full obituary is here.
Lewis had the Midas touch in business, whether in his practice as a certified public accountant, his ownership of Panera Bread franchises in three states, or his media partnership that secured a VHF television station license for what became WVLT-TV Channel 8 (formerly WKXT-TV), Knoxville’s CBS affiliate.
Back in the days of “lobster to go” on a county P-card, Larry Van Guilder and I did some good reporting about Knox County government. Yes, it was worse then than now. Lewis started as a reader but quickly became a volunteer investigator. With his expertise in accounting, he was able to spot trouble. And his relentless determination to expose bad practices and improve county processes was outstanding. Hardest working, smartest volunteer I’ve ever had.
As a result of his work, he went on to secure appointment to the board of the Knoxville-Knox County Public Building Authority where he served as secretary and ethics officer. He pushed for creation of an ethics committee for Knox County, then served as a member and as chair.
Lewis wasn’t looking for a job. He sincerely wanted to make things better. And he did. He leaves a strong legacy of service to Knox County, Tennessee. The place he called home.
