Lewis Arthur Tambs, 90, passed away on October 19, 2017. He served in the United States Army from 1945-47 and 1950-51. Lewis graduated from the University of California Berkley with a degree in civil engineering in 1953 and went on to work for Standard Brands Oil in San Francisco. He then worked from 1954-59 in Venezuela first as a pipeline engineer for Creole Petroleum in Caracas and later as a General Manager for CACYP Petroleum in Maracaibo. Upon returning to the states he studied Latin American History at UC Santa Barbara, where he received a Masters and Ph.D. Lewis taught at Creighton University as an assistant professor and later became a tenured professor and the Director for Latin American Studies at ASU. He also taught at the graduate level at Thunderbird International School of Management. Lewis was fluent in Portuguese and Spanish and wrote various books and articles on Russia, Hitler's Spanish Legion, and most notably Latin America. Lewis Tambs' expertise led him to a position as a Latin American consultant at the National Security Council in 1982 and was subsequently appointed United States Ambassador to Colombia (1983-85) and Costa Rica (1985-87). He retired from ASU in 2002. He is survived by his wife Phyllis, seven children and three grandchildren. Visitation will be held Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a rosary at 6:30p.m. at Resthaven/Carr-Tenney Mortuary, 4310 E. Southern Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85042. Services will be held on October 26, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Spirit Church located 1800 E Libra Dr, Tempe, AZ 85283. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Hospice of the Valley  (Source: Arizona Republic)