John Phillip Lauer

John was born on June 26, 1954, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to the late Jerome and Martha Lauer. He attended St. John the Baptist elementary school and Bishop Luers High School. During high school and college, he worked for his father’s construction firm and became such an accomplished carpenter that he later single-handedly remodeled every room of his Tucson home.

John married the love of his life, Deanna Walker, in 1976. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Accounting and later earned a CPA designation. His work took him from Fort Wayne to Phoenix in 1982 and on to Tucson in 1987. After a brief move to Salt Lake City from 2000 to 2002 while serving as CFO of AlphaGraphics, John and his family returned permanently to Tucson. He was the Managing Partner with the accounting firm of HBL CPAs, P.C., and a recent member of the board of CPAmerica International. John’s mastery of all aspects of finance and his extraordinarily engaging and positive personality enabled him to not only grow his company, but also become an outstanding and well-respected member of the Tucson community.

John gave generously of his time and talent to many. His volunteering accomplishments included serving as a member of the board of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, member of the finance council of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, and member of the finance council of the Tucson Country Club, in addition to prior board or committee roles with Carondelet Health Network, San Miguel Catholic High School, St Pius X parish, and the Microbusiness Advancement Center.

John was an avid golfer, a devoted Arizona Wildcats basketball fan, and a long-time model train hobbyist. He also delighted in the presence of children and loved nothing more than finding ways to entertain his grandson, his many grand nieces and nephews, and children of family friends. Despite his intimidating 6’5” height, young children gravitated to him.

John is survived by Deanna, his wife of 42 years; his children Joel (Sara), Nicholas, and Shannon; and his grandson Samuel. He is also survived by his brothers Jerry (Susan) Lauer and Tom (Karen) Lauer; sister Noreen (Bob) Fieber; brothers-in-law Robert (Martine) Rankel, Dan Walker, Damon Walker, Denny (Vickie) Walker, Darren (Kathy) Walker; and sisters-in-law Debbe (Gary) Ainslie and Daphne Holsinger, in addition to many nieces and nephews. John was preceded in death by his sisters Susan Rankel and Mary Beth Mecikalski, brother-in-law Edmund Mecikalski, brother-in-law Don Walker and his parents.

A funeral Mass is scheduled at St Pius X church on Saturday, December 8, 2018, at 1:00 with a reception to follow at Tucson Country Club.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in John’s memory to Catholic Community Services Foundation (www.ccs-soaz.org).

John was a kind and loving soul. We all benefited from his gentle spirit and his intelligent and thoughtful counsel. He was a trusted leader for the community, colleagues, and clients – and most importantly for his family. It is said that we are all made in the image and likeness of God. It is not possible to find a person more reflective of God’s intention than our husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend John.