John David Lott was born June 14, 1955, in Albia, Iowa, to Robert Henry Lott and Alberta Marguerite (Romp) Lott. His family were farmers in Monroe County, moving from Georgetown to the farm “south of town” when John was a preschooler. There he was free to flex his adventuresome-spirit wings - exploring the woods, climbing around the hay lofts, swimming and fishing in the pond, swinging through the trees on homemade zip lines, and learning how to drive the tractor at the age of eight.
John’s father died when John was 11 so he and his mother moved off the farm. With no farm work to do, John mowed lawns and did odd jobs until he got regular jobs at the age of 16 in an optician’s office and later painted houses during the summers. Two weeks after he graduated from Albia High School in 1973, his mother died. That summer, he and friend, Abe, took a multi-week, many-storied trip around the southern and western US before he gathered all his possessions and moved to Ames to begin a new life on his own.
John arrived at Iowa State University enrolled in the architectural engineering program. He also joined the ISU Marching Band where he met Janet Dowell. He stood right behind her in the parade formation but told people that she chased him all over the field when the band turned around. Their first date was the 1973 Iowa All-State Concert. They were engaged February 1, 1974 and married on August 24, 1974.
John was a hard and tireless worker and played the same way he worked. His children would sing Maniac from Flashdance at him and Janet and often called him the Energizer Bunny. John and Janet started their own roofing business the summer before they married right after a huge hail storm. They also bought their first fixer-upper house that summer. They did odd jobs and roofed houses during the summers to pay for the next year’s schooling and the materials needed to repair their tiny home. During non-working time, they played together on volleyball teams, camped, canoed, hiked, biked and drove all over Iowa on their Honda 550-four motorcycle.
John’s father employed conservation tillage in the 1940s, before it was a widespread practice, and John picked up on that theme – conservation and care for the earth. He graduated from ISU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in 1979 and his first job out of school was designing swine farm anaerobic digesters which converted waste into a usable bio gas. At this time, he also started a company called Environmental Design in which he designed earth sheltered homes in central Iowa. His interest in self-sufficient, low energy design followed him throughout his career as he worked in architectural and engineering firms in Des Moines, Ames and Boone, becoming a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEAD) Professional in the early 2000s.
In the mid-1990s, John came home and announced that his hours had been cut at yet another job due to lack of work. He was also working on the 10th and final year of his Master’s Degree in Architecture when he and Janet decided to start their own architecture firm – Benjamin Design Collaborative, P.C. Over the years John employed dozens of architectural student interns from ISU and was known to ask during an interview, “What are the dimensions of a 2 x 4?” The word got out that he did that and after nearly all the interviewees got that one right, he kept asking questions until they said, “I don’t know.” Those are the interns he hired. He was a practitioner of architecture and wanted to mentor his interns into being savvy about design and construction methods, and at the same time being able to relate to and respect all clients and contractors. Some interns became like family and he always enjoyed visits and messages from them after they left the firm. John especially enjoyed working with 50 Habitat for Humanity families on their home designs. He also gave much attention to the Emergency Resident Project, currently known as The Bridge Home. The future campus of The Bridge Home was the last design project John was able to work on and he wished that he could have seen this expansive project come to fruition. He earned awards for his architectural and altruistic work but was hesitant to display them. He wanted to be the accessible architect to all who needed one.
In 1982, John and Janet had their first child, Benjamin. Ben was a child who needed 24/7 care throughout his life and they soon became deeply involved in the ARC of Story County, promoting accessibility of all buildings and access to resources for families. John was asked to go to the Capitol in Des Moines and read a speech written by Janet addressing the state’s legislature’s denial of resources that helped keep kids like Ben in their homes. The next day he saw himself in the newspaper with the caption, “Protestor John Lott speaks on Capitol Steps.” He didn’t think of himself as a protester, he was just doing the right thing. Benjamin died at age nine and three years later, John and Janet’s architecture firm was named after him. In 1986, Elizabeth was born with a smile and her dad’s curiosity about heights and creative thought processes. Then Aaron completed the family a couple of years later and inherited John’s stamina and dedication to whatever he was doing. While Ben was at home, the family was restricted to staying at home as John and Janet attended to his 24/7 care. After Ben died, the family was determined to take trips together, annually visiting at least one national park and their out-of-state family, doing all those things John loved, usually hiking to see “what was around the next bend.” John and Janet spent many summers on their Goldwing motorcycling around the country. They travelled to Europe more than once to visit their kids as they were studying, Elizabeth in Switzerland, Aaron in England and their exchange student, Markéta, in Czechia. John also got to go on one of his dream vacations (with Aaron) when he was 57 – backpacking the 45 mile Grand Canyon rim to rim trail over five days in February. And he ran. He considered his morning 3 – 6 mile runs a way of meditating and resetting for the day. He tried to never miss the annual Dam to Dam 20k and the Midnight Madness 5k, his last run being a month before he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 . He always said that he “ran so I could eat more pie.” He ate a lot of pie.
If he wasn’t working at the office or relaxing (?) with his family, he was renovating the family home with Janet. His biggest personal building adventure was designing and constructing a garage that matched their 150 year-old house that would be self-heating and cooling, complete with woodshop underground and a second story studio. He finished the outside before his cancer wouldn’t let him work on it anymore and was quite satisfied that he was able to complete that much.
Music was a huge part of John’s life. He and Janet met in the ISU marching band. He got her attention by singing over the top of her seat on the bus as the marching band traveled to a Nebraska game in November 1973. She noticed! He and Janet played in the Ames Municipal Band for 49 years, John on euphonium and Janet on trombone. He was the music leader for the Ames Morning Rotary for decades, making up words for songs that honored people and philosophies of the organization. John sang in the choir, played the handbells and guitar, and had led the Sunday School music gathering at Central Christian Church in Marshalltown and First Christian Church in Ames, where he also served on and led committees, was an Elder, and more recently became the coffee maker guy even though he didn’t drink coffee. His latest musical endeavor was being part of the choir and ukulele group at Lott Music Studio, even as he struggled to keep up his energy from cancer treatments. His favorite wintertime sport was Tuba Christmas, performing in his last one in December 2022.
Friends were another essential element of John’s life. He could talk to anyone and usually did. His kids teased him about wherever they went someone would ask if John Lott was their dad. In his last months, he totally enjoyed the Marvel Movie Marathon days with his closest friends, Lew, Jake and Marv, their last one being in the hospice house just days before he died. He was grateful for all the friends he had over the years.
John struggled with cancer for five years and died comfortably and peacefully on May 8, 2023, at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames. He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Beverly, Barbara, and Marilyn and son, Benjamin. Survivors include his wife and closest friend, Janet; children, Elizabeth and Lucas Lott Mussman, Aaron Lott and Urtzi Pascual Fernandez; granddaughter, Piper Jo Lott Mussman; exchange student daughter, Markéta: his sister, Bobbi Johnson and his brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Lyn Lott; plus many cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws. He also was claimed as Grandpa John and Papa Lott by some of those kids who came into his life through church and his own kids.
The family wishes to thank the receptionists, lab workers, nurses, nurse practitioners, and doctors at the Bliss Cancer Center. Also, the care and nurturing that the family received from the women of Mary Greeley Hospice Home Care and the Israel Family Hospice House will not be forgotten. You gave a gift of care that helped us through a most difficult time. Thank you.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held August 12, 2023 at First Christian Church, Ames, Iowa. Visitation will be at 1:00 pm and following the service. Service will be at 2:00 pm. Burial will be at the Ames Municipal Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to The Bridge Home, Ames, Iowa, an organization to bridge the gap between homelessness and housing.
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