1936
John
2024
John Lawler
June 11, 1936 — September 14, 2024
John Griffin Lawler Jr., age 88, died September 14
th
at Mayo Clinic Health Systems.
John was born June 11 th , 1936 in Albany, New York to John Griffin Lawler and Elizabeth Elder Lawler. The family lived in Schenectady, NY until John was nine and they moved to Ballston Spa, NY, where John and his younger sister, Jane, attended a one room school with seven grades and one teacher. He finished high school at the Ballston Spa Central School.
John then attended The University of New Hampshire for a year. Then enlisted in the Army where he worked for three years as an illustrator in the training aids division of the Army Security Agency School, helping to train intelligence gatherers during the Cold War.
After receiving an Honorable Discharge, he moved to New York City to attend Pratt Institute where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communications. During that time he married Priscilla Jury and they had two children, Dawn (1963) and Aren (1965.). After working for a few years, John returned to Pratt and got his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture.
In 1968 John accepted a position teaching design in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. There he built the first Graphic Design program in the university system.
John and Priscilla separated and were later divorced. In 1974, John started Greendoor Graphics and Advertising and located in downtown. It grew to employ six to seven people and became known widely for its outstanding logos and marketing materials.
He was part of a small group that started The Advertising Club and another group that started The Eau Claire Regional Arts Center where he served for several years on the original Board of Directors. His company contributed the logos and other marketing materials that were used until the Confluence project was completed.
As a passionate advocate for Downtown, John joined The Main Street program where he presided over the facade improvement program, and working through Main Street, he helped bring the Farmers Market downtown with the hope of stimulating more people to frequent the area. The logo and other marketing materials his company contributed are still being used by them. For years his company contributed the design of the banners that lined the downtown streets. These and other efforts to reinvigorate downtown earned him the 1994 Volunteer of the Year Award from then Governor, Tommy Thompson. Much later, he served on the Downtown Eau Claire Incorporated Board.
John retired from UWEC in 1996, but continued to lead Greendoor Graphics until 2002 at which time he sold it.
In 2003, Mary Flynn, his wife since 1983, accepted a job running a study abroad program for three years in Scotland for the Wisconsin university system. John joined her as her “Special Assistant”. Being gone for that amount of time ended most of John’s commitments in Eau Claire, but gained both he and Mary a lot of Scottish friends with whom they stayed in constant contact.
Retirement for John had been a mix of spending time at their log cabin on the northern Chippewa he and Mary designed and built in 1991, making sculpture, designing and building furniture, camping, traveling, reading and enjoying time with their kids and grandson Jonathan Polmatier.
John’s parents and sister Jane preceded him in death.
A Celebration of Life will be held November 15 th from 7 – 11:00 p.m. at Houligans party room 415 S Barstow Street Eau Claire, WI.
Cremation Society of Wisconsin, Altoona is assisting the family. Online condolences may be shared at www.cremationsociety-wi.com
John was born June 11 th , 1936 in Albany, New York to John Griffin Lawler and Elizabeth Elder Lawler. The family lived in Schenectady, NY until John was nine and they moved to Ballston Spa, NY, where John and his younger sister, Jane, attended a one room school with seven grades and one teacher. He finished high school at the Ballston Spa Central School.
John then attended The University of New Hampshire for a year. Then enlisted in the Army where he worked for three years as an illustrator in the training aids division of the Army Security Agency School, helping to train intelligence gatherers during the Cold War.
After receiving an Honorable Discharge, he moved to New York City to attend Pratt Institute where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communications. During that time he married Priscilla Jury and they had two children, Dawn (1963) and Aren (1965.). After working for a few years, John returned to Pratt and got his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture.
In 1968 John accepted a position teaching design in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. There he built the first Graphic Design program in the university system.
John and Priscilla separated and were later divorced. In 1974, John started Greendoor Graphics and Advertising and located in downtown. It grew to employ six to seven people and became known widely for its outstanding logos and marketing materials.
He was part of a small group that started The Advertising Club and another group that started The Eau Claire Regional Arts Center where he served for several years on the original Board of Directors. His company contributed the logos and other marketing materials that were used until the Confluence project was completed.
As a passionate advocate for Downtown, John joined The Main Street program where he presided over the facade improvement program, and working through Main Street, he helped bring the Farmers Market downtown with the hope of stimulating more people to frequent the area. The logo and other marketing materials his company contributed are still being used by them. For years his company contributed the design of the banners that lined the downtown streets. These and other efforts to reinvigorate downtown earned him the 1994 Volunteer of the Year Award from then Governor, Tommy Thompson. Much later, he served on the Downtown Eau Claire Incorporated Board.
John retired from UWEC in 1996, but continued to lead Greendoor Graphics until 2002 at which time he sold it.
In 2003, Mary Flynn, his wife since 1983, accepted a job running a study abroad program for three years in Scotland for the Wisconsin university system. John joined her as her “Special Assistant”. Being gone for that amount of time ended most of John’s commitments in Eau Claire, but gained both he and Mary a lot of Scottish friends with whom they stayed in constant contact.
Retirement for John had been a mix of spending time at their log cabin on the northern Chippewa he and Mary designed and built in 1991, making sculpture, designing and building furniture, camping, traveling, reading and enjoying time with their kids and grandson Jonathan Polmatier.
John’s parents and sister Jane preceded him in death.
A Celebration of Life will be held November 15 th from 7 – 11:00 p.m. at Houligans party room 415 S Barstow Street Eau Claire, WI.
Cremation Society of Wisconsin, Altoona is assisting the family. Online condolences may be shared at www.cremationsociety-wi.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of John Lawler, please visit our flower store.
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Friday, November 15, 2024
7:00 - 11:00 pm (Central time)
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