Robert Lawton Jones, FAIA

Robert Lawton Jones, architect, planner and educator died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 14, 2018. He was 93.

After growing up in McAlester, Oklahoma, Bob Jones served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame. A year later he met and married Ethlyn (Lynn) Scott in Chicago, Illinois. Professional licensing and a Master's degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology followed. In 1953-54, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany. After 35 years of private practice with Murray Jones Murray in Tulsa, Bob was appointed Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the University of Oklahoma, a position he held for 11 years. He then served as Campus Planner for the University of Tulsa until his retirement at the age of 72.

Bob was admitted to the College of Fellows, American Institute of Architects in 1970 and later served as chairman of its selection jury. He was also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. The Jones residence in Tulsa (1959) has been included by the U.S. Department of the Interior on the National Registry for Historic Places.

As director of design and planning with Murray Jones Murray, he sought an architecture which would meaningfully respond to the imperatives of nature, humanity and technology. His commitment was to quality and the development of professional teams at a time of great social and economic change. Former associates describe him as "scholarly, witty and driven." An early mentor was Mies Van der Rohe, arguably one of the world's top four architects of the Modern Movement in the Twentieth Century. Murray Jones Murray work was published, exhibited or honored on 120 occasions.

His 1963 presentation "Nature and the Built Environment" was the direct stimulus for the American Institute of Architects nation-wide program "The War on Ugliness," one of the first professional efforts to address pollution in this country.

For over half a century, Bob and Lynn were engaged in social justice and peace movements, efforts that have been recognized by the National Conference for Community and Justice, Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry and many others.

He is survived by his wife, Lynn, of the home; daughter, Jayme Gergely of Santa Fe; son, Mark Jones (Lynn) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; son, Paul Jones (Laurie) of Madison, Wisconsin; son, Greg Jones of Tulsa; daughter, Laure Moon (James) of San Francisco, California; daughter, Christi Hield (Steve) of Santa Fe; son, Matt Jones (Lucinda) of Saint Louis, Missouri; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lawton H. and Josephine Troy Jones of McAlester; son-in-law, Robert Gergely of Grand Junction, Colorado and step-grandson, Trey Jones of Oklahoma City.