Mario Kumale "Buddy" Sawyer

1966 - 2016

Mario "Buddy"
Kumale Sawyer

July 24, 1966 -
August 28, 2016

The Atom

I sense sheer flotation

Suspended?

Indestructible power

No flame, no sword or cannon

Just unrelenting energy.

By Buddy Sawyer, 1980









Unrelenting energy....that was Buddy. Like a sunburst. Or a shooting star. His was the soul of an artist, musician, entertainer and friend. Funny and irrepressible, an inveterate mimic, wit, and storyteller, he had a big-hearted warmth that drew people to him like a magnet--especially children. To his young nephews, Jack and Darrell, he was "Uncle Buddy! Uncle Buddy!" With his extraordinary memory and intelligence, he soaked up knowledge like a sponge, yet he couldn't sit still long enough to pursue any single course of study--even in art or music, his twin talents. As a result he was largely self-taught. He worked hard, played hard, and loved life and people unreservedly.

During his last 10 years in Eugene, he became known as the guitarist -- memorable for his signature cowboy hat and dynamic stage presence -- who played in Kelly Thibodeaux's duo Acoustic Etouffée as well as with the full Etouffée Band. He was felled, suddenly, by the escalating effects of a concussion about a month after he hit his forehead against a hidden metal rail while working as a stagehand at the U of O's Matthew Knight Arena.

Buddy was the first of three children born to the Rev. Jimmie Lee Sawyer (d. 1989) and Judith Hudnutt Sawyer. Raised in Chicago, IL & Buffalo, Queens and Mt. Kisco, NY, he graduated from ACES alternative high school in Bedford Hills, NY and attended The School of Visual Arts and the Institute of Audio Research in Manhattan. His talent as an artist was obvious from the age of three, when he painted a colorful, "dancing" train that hung in his nursery school for years. At age 10 he created an original comic book, "Star Lord" and enlisted kids in his class to ink and color the panels. He honed his artistic skills working as a scenic artist and set builder for stage, theater and film productions in New York, New Jersey, L.A.'s Universal Studios, and for the Eugene Ballet and Shedd Auditorium, among others. His mural of an elk adorns the eastern wall of Eugene's Elkhorn Brewery. He also spent a season as an "animateur" at Club Med in Ixtapa, Mexico, worked as a picture framer, stagehand, builder and installer of acoustic room treatments, and as a construction worker on projects in New York, Los Angeles and Eugene.

But music was Buddy's passion. Folk, soul, blues, classic and southern rock were his early inspirations, but he embraced all musical forms with open ears and an open heart. In Kelly Thibodeaux, Buddy found his musical soul mate. Together, the Acoustic Etouffée duo played regularly at Saturday Market, numerous festivals, restaurants, pubs, and private parties around the Pacific NW and as far away as the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto, Canada. Recently, Buddy brought the touch of his art to music by painting colorful fiddles depicting everything from lightning bolts to leopards for the school children to whom Kelly teaches fiddling throughout the Northwest.

Wherever he went, Buddy walked his own walk and gave all he had to give. For all who knew him, however briefly or casually, his loss is hard to take.

Buddy is survived by his mother Judith Sawyer & stepfather Dave Franzen of Eugene; brother Victor Sawyer, sister-in-law Heather and nephew Jack of Livingston, MT; sister Suzanne Sawyer, brother-in-law Darrell Gray and nephew Darrell, Jr. of St. Louis; stepsister Lisa Franzen of Oakland, CA, stepbrother Jeff Franzen of Minneapolis, MN; many aunts, uncles, and cousins; and dozens of friends around the country.

To support aspiring musicians in Buddy's name, please make donations to the Be Instrumental Foundation, PO Box 8519, Toledo, Ohio 43623.