John Edward Lawton

On May 22, after a long and rich life, Highlands Ranch, Colorado resident John Edward Lawton passed away peacefully in his sleep. John was well known in the Denver area as a successful petroleum geologist, entrepreneur and humanitarian, and those who had the privilege of knowing him personally will miss his good natured sense of humor, optimism and generosity.

John was born February 2, 1925, in Sanger, California, to Rokeby and Martha Lawton. It was in this avocado and citrus ranching family that John forged a tremendous work ethic, particularly during the depression when the family resorted to subsistence farming, running a small gas station and raising chickens to survive. He was the youngest of four children and remained close to his three older sisters, Ruth, and twin sisters Violet and Iris, throughout his life.

After graduating from Vista High School in 1942, John served in the Army and eventually attained the rank of Lieutenant. He was stationed in Italy and received his initial training as an engineer, contributing to the World War II campaign in Europe. John was very proud of serving his country and had many colorful memories of this time. He kept a picture of the many lifelong friends he had made in “Company B” hanging in his office until his last day.

As an honorably discharged officer, he was accepted to Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology (1950), a Master of Science Degree in Geology (1952) and a Phd in Petroleum Geology (1956). It was during this time that he met the love of his life, Amy Kathleen Smith. He once said that he was entranced by her beautiful blue eyes and her dedication to her students as an elementary school teacher. They married on December 27, 1952, and would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year.

John achieved great success in the oil industry almost immediately, working as an exploration geologist who identified natural gas and oil deposits for Shell Oil, Wolf Exploration and Inexco Oil Co. He was instrumental in discovering one of the largest gas and oil fields in America at the time, the Madden Unit in the Wind River Basin of Wyoming, which is still producing today. John’s gift for finding fossil fuel sources carried him into executive management in a number of Denver-area firms over his tenure. He served as Rocky Mountain exploration manager for Buttes Resources, vice president of Visa Exploration and exploration manager at Axem Exploration.

John and Amy lived in Greenwood Village, a suburb of Denver, during this time and raised two children, John William, born October 6, 1961, and Anna Kathleen, born April 18, 1964. As a family, they enjoyed snow skiing, and boating on the high alpine Lake Dillon, where the Lawton’s owned a condominium. Drive in movies were also a favorite, when John would back the family station wagon up to the movie screen to eat popcorn, drink orange soda and watch great films such as The Shaggy Dog and The Love Bug. Anna eventually moved to the Reno-Lake Tahoe area and John W. to Vista, California, where his father grew up. Between them, they gave John and Amy six grandchildren.

In 1987, John spread his wings as an entrepreneur and established Lawton Resources, an independent oil and gas consulting firm. At this time he hired Kathy Mohrbacher, his dedicated executive assistant who has served John and Amy loyally for nearly 25 years. Over the years he established four other companies that branched into the telecommunications and real estate industries – Lawton Communications, Logotronix Communications LLC, International GeoTel, Lawton Homes, Inc. and IINV, LLC. He also loved speculating in the real estate and stock market and had a tremendous gift for buying low and selling high. He enjoyed great success in all these endeavors, utilizing his unique combination of business acumen, positive thinking and people skill.

John loved spending time at the Lawton Resources headquarters, and even worked at the office on the day he went to the hospital for the last time. Over the years, the office became not only a place of business, but a center of bustling philanthropic activity for both John and Amy.

John was a passionate member of the University Hills Rotary Club, where he contributed time and energy to many international projects including funding clean water wells and orphanages, the sponsorship of ambassadorial scholars, and creating economic opportunity for qualified individuals through micro credit programs in South America. In 2001 and again in 2004, University Hills Rotary honored John as Rotarian of the Year. He was the only member of the club ever recognized twice as Rotarian of the Year.

John and Amy were also honored as volunteers of the year by the Colorado Child & Mental Health Coalition for their years of dedication and support to Excelsior Youth Center, an organization that provides support and educational opportunity for girls with emotional and behavioral difficulties. It was there that they established the Excelsior-Lawton scholarship which provides tuition, fees, books, room and board and other means of support for girls who have received the high school diploma or GED.

These are just a few examples of the humanitarian projects that John was involved in. Most of all, John will be missed as a husband, father, grandfather and friend. He was the penultimate optimist with a knack for making others feel at ease. An interaction with his doctor near the end of his life was a great example of that. When the doctor informed him of his fatal condition, John just sat calmly contemplating his fate. Then the doctor added, “And if you do make it out of here, you are absolutely not to drive again.” John was angry. “No driving?!?!?” he said. “But I just bought a brand new Cadillac!!”