Friends, family and admirers of businessman and philanthropist Lewis Katz are rallying behind his New Jersey Hall of Fame nomination.
Katz, who was 72 when he died in a plane crash on May 31, 2014, is among 10 men and women named in the Hall's "enterprise" category.
Other nominees with South Jersey ties include former NAACP presiident and Camden native Bruce S. Gordon; Moorestown industrialist Samuel Leeds Allen, who patented the Flexible Flyer sled; trailblazing Atlantic City businesswoman Sara Spencer Washington; and John A. Roebling, whose Florence Township steelworks forged the cables for the Brooklyn Bridge.
A Camden native who at the time of his death was an owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer's parent company, Katz had a long career in business and politics. But he is perhaps best remembered in South Jersey for making possible Boys and Girls clubs, charter schools, community centers and other facilities and programs in Camden and across the region.
"When we heard that Lewis had been nominated, we wanted to use social media to spread the word," consultant Donald Sico says. "The idea is not to tell people who to vote for -- all of the nominees are worthy -- but to let people in all of the communities Lewis touched know about the nomination."
Voting will continue online through June 7. The Hall of Fame, a private organization, was founded in 2005 to recognize the accomplishments of New Jersey natives and residents.