The memorial service celebrating the life of Jim Lawton of Wadena will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, July 30, at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wadena, with Pastor Nate Loer presiding.
A gathering of family and friends will be held at the church on Thursday from 11:30 a.m. until the time of the service.
James King Lawton, 80, of Wadena, Minn. died peacefully with his family by his side on June 26, 2022. Born in Wauwatosa, Wis. on April 18, 1942, the son of loving parents, Charles DeWitt Lawton and Eleanor Marie (Beckwith) Lawton who predeceased him.
Summers were spent at the family cottage in Houghton. Mich. near where his father was from in Hancock, Mich. Also nearby were the copper mines where his great uncle was the superintendent, and his grandfather was the attorney. In later years, after the mines closed, as a teenager, Jim began exploring the abandoned buildings and taking slides (photos) of the mine grounds and buildings. Slides that would come in handy many years later.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin- Madison with a degree in entomology and parasitology, Jim went to work at the Milwaukee Public Museum as the Assistant Curator of Entomology. He traveled far and wide collecting specimens for the newly built MPM exhibits. A lot of his field trips took him to National Parks where he collected specimens and took slides of the beautiful landscapes. More slides that would become prominent in his life later.
While working at the MPM, he met and married his wife, Janet (Jana) Ann Sewell who was attending school in Milwaukee and volunteering at the museum. They were married June 12, 1971, and later moved to Jackson Hole, Wy. where they opened a museum design studio, designing exhibits for smaller museums. Three happy years were spent there, but they couldn’t make a success of the business.
Jim next accepted a position at the University of Utah Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City as Curator of Exhibits. Employed there for eight years, his artistic abilities really blossomed, and his exhibits won countless awards. He and Jana had two children, James King II (Feb. 9. 1078) and Jenna (Jan. 19, 1981) while in Salt Lake City.
When Jim’s parents got along in years and became ill, Jim and Jana decided to move back to Wisconsin where he accepted a job as Curator of Exhibits with the Neville Museum in Green Bay. He received many awards for his exhibits, one of which was a national award. While in Green Bay, Jim became a rabid Green Bay Packer fan.
After early retirement, Jim and Jana moved to Prescott, Wis. to be closer to good friends who lived nearby. While in retirement, Jim enjoyed gardening and working part-time at Funkie Gardens. Working with Baard and Diane Webster and all the wonderful customers at Funkie Gardens made Jim’s retirement a wonderful blessing. He also began painting landscapes of National Parks and the abandoned mines of the Quincy Copper Mine in Hancock, Mich. Many, prestigious art shows later, Jim received many local and national awards. In addition to being known far and wide for his National Park paintings, he was known as the Copper Country Artist.
Alzheimer's finally took the best of him, ultimately requiring that he live in a nursing home for care. Moving to Wadena to be closer to his son and his family, gave Jana the support that she needed during this period.
At last Jim received a call, a sort of offer you can’t refuse, for an appointment from which he will not be returning. This assignment comes with a huge sign-on bonus, a reunion with family and friends he has not seen in a long time. No doubt he will regale them with some very energetic storytelling of the highlights of his life.
Jim is survived by his wife Janet “Jana;” son, James II of Wadena; and daughter, Jenna of Wadena; four grandchildren; and brothers, Charles “Chuck (Joan) Lawton of Grafton, Wis., and Thomas (Pat) Lawton of Green Bay.
Jim was preceded in death by his brother, Stephen Lawton who resided in Sewell, NJ at the time of his death.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Immanuel Lutheran Church, Wadena, can be made in Jim’s memory.
Many thanks to Fair Oaks Lodge and their wonderful, caring, and loving staff who cared for Jim, and Heartland Hospice who stepped in at a time he needed them the most.
Honorary pallbearers will be James K. Lawton II, Charles D. Lawton III, Thomas R. Lawton, Baard Webster, Floyd Easterman and Steve Meyer.
Burial will be in Wadena Cemetery, Wadena, Minn.
Arrangements are with the Schuller Family Funeral Homes & Cremation Services, Wadena, Minn. (www. SchullerFamilyFH.com)
