Coping with Grief
We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. Enter your email below for our complimentary daily grief messages. Messages run for up to one year and you can stop at any time. Your email will not be used for any other purpose.
Jesse Lyons passed away peacefully in Nacogdoches, Texas on January 22 at the age of 88. Jesse was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1934, the youngest of four children of William and Eva Lyons, and grew up in the “Hungry Hill” neighborhood of Springfield. After graduating high school, Jesse served four years in the United States Navy as a signalman on aircraft carriers, sailing all over the world. After his honorable discharge, Jesse entered the School of Architecture at Tulane University in 1957 where he received several scholarships and fellowships and earned his Master of Architecture degree. While studying in New Orleans, he met Bonnie Rivet, and they were married in 1960. Their marriage was blessed with three children, Elizabeth, Jesse Jr., and Matthew. The family moved to New England in 1962 where Jesse launched his architecture career.
Jesse enjoyed fifty-two successful years as an architect working on a diversity of public, commercial, and residential projects. In Connecticut in the 1960s, Jesse was first employed at Eero Saarinen & Associates and then at Roche/Dinkeloo Associates as a draftsman, construction representative, and project manager on a wide-range of prestigious commissions, including Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey; Neiman Marcus at North Park Mall in Dallas, TX; the Ford Foundation, the Vivian Beaumont Theater, and the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in NYC; the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH; John Deere in Moline, IL; and the Knights of Columbus building and New Haven Arena in New Haven, CT. He was also involved in construction administration for the Jefferson Memorial Arch in St. Louis, MO and served as a project manager on the National Wildlife & Fisheries Aquarium in Washington, DC; the U.S. Post Office in Columbus, IN; and the Fifth Avenue façade for the exterior of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
In 1969, Jesse joined the firm of Warren Platner and Associates where he worked as a production architect for fifteen years on many high-profile building projects. In his early years at Platner’s firm, Jesse served as a production associate on the Windows on the World Restaurant and Observation Deck on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center North Tower in NYC; Water Tower Place Vertical Mall in Chicago, IL; the Yale Club in NYC; the Kent Memorial Library in Suffield, CT, and the beautiful Platner residence in Guilford, CT. After briefly leaving the Platner firm for an offer to return to Dinkeloo’s, Jesse rejoined Warren Platner and Associates as senior associate of production and construction. During his tenure as senior associate, Jesse managed and oversaw the construction of the Pan Am Building in NYC; Tanglewood Music Shed in Lenox, MA; Standard Brands Research Center in Wilton, CT; The Lodge at Vail in Colorado; Underground Atlanta in Atlanta, GA; Fayerweather Hall at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT; and Sea Containers Inc. Corporate Headquarters in London, England, among many other projects.
In 1985, Jesse joined in partnership with Harvey Kaufman and Gordon Black to form Kaufman, Black, and Lyons Inc., which they ran until 1991. As the production/construction partner of the firm, Jesse managed the construction of many commercial buildings, including Sea Containers, Inc. Office Charleston, SC and dozens of banks and office buildings in Connecticut; as well as interior design projects for Market Square in Pittsburgh, PA; Saint Joseph Hospital in Stamford, CT; and many restaurants, banks and corporate centers in the Connecticut area. Following the closing of the partnership, Jesse joined Silvester Tafuro Design Inc as director of technical services and applied his production and construction expertise to the airline industry, completing building projects for Delta and American Airlines, as well as airport interiors, including terminals and concessions spaces.
Jesse was a member of the American Institute of Architects throughout his career, and over the years he took on many consulting and freelance projects of his own, including the Picou Office Building in Baton Rouge, LA; several of his own personal residences in Connecticut and Amelia Island Florida; and the Troy Davis House on Raguet Street in Nacogdoches, TX.
Though his family is proud of professional accomplishments, Jesse was much more than an architect. He was a warm, funny, and fun-loving man and a wonderful person to socialize and relax with. He loved music (especially Irish music), travel, art, and wining and dining. After his retirement, Jesse and Bonnie retraced his Navy travels by touring much of the world. But most of all, Jesse loved being with his family. He leaves behind his beloved wife of sixty-two years, Bonnie Lyons; his three children and their spouses: Elizabeth Tasker Davis and Troy Davis, Jesse Jr. and Cindy Lyons, and Matthew and Amy Lyons; and five grandchildren: Rebecca Tasker, Sean Tasker, Austin Tasker, Jake Lyons, and Casey Lyons. He is reunited in the afterlife with his parents, William and Eva Lyons; his two sisters and their spouses: Jean and Russell Smith, and Phyllis and Bob Driscoll; his brother Billy Lyons; and his brother-in-law Courtney Picou. He will be missed dearly by many, including his sister and brother in-laws: Linda Lyons, Marie Picou, Trudy Rafferty, and Tom Rafferty; his many nieces and nephews; and his Irish cousins, the Grummells.
Strong in his faith, Jesse was also a lifelong member of the Catholic Church. A memorial mass for Jesse Lyons will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Nacogdoches, TX on Saturday, February 11 at 10:00 a.m., followed by a reception at the church hall. Interment services in New Orleans will happen later this spring.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jesse Michael Lyons, please visit our floral store.