Steven Eugene Lawler

Steven Eugene Lawler

Knoxville, TN

Steven Eugene Lawler, whose love of music and creative spirit was renowned among all who knew him, died Tuesday, October 25, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Lawler, who was 66, died from complications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, a condition he had struggled with for many years. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lawler moved with his family at a very young age to Greensboro, North Carolina. There he attended Notre Dame High School and excelled as a member of the school's basketball team, developing a lifelong love for the game. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where in 1972 he completed his studies for a bachelor's degree in business. He was an avid Tar Heels fan.

Lawler began a career in business at Burlington Industries, but it wasn't long before his passions for music, storytelling and entrepreneurship would lead him to music and video production. A master of many musical instruments even though he had no formal music education, one of Lawler's proudest moments came in 1977 when he was credited for his collaboration on a record album produced by nationally known radio personality Rick Dees. Lawler, who had known and remained close friends with Dees since his high school and college years, had a hand in Dees's late-70s pop sensation, Disco Duck, the lead track on the album "Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots." In the late 1990s, Lawler moved to Knoxville where he embarked on a career in television, helped develop shows for DIY Network, a home-improvement channel owned and operated by Scripps Networks. Like Dees, the CEO at Scripps Networks, Kenneth W. Lowe, was another of Lawler's high school and college friends whom he had maintained a close relationship with over the years.

Lawler's work for DIY Network was done primarily through his role as director of product integration at Knoxville's RIVR Media, one of the country's leading independent television producers. His credits at DIY Network included doing yeoman's work arranging the massive amount of product integration that undergirded the channel's highly successful Blog Cabin sweepstakes series. Lawler joined RIVR Media in 2001 after a brief stint with Scripps Networks. He worked at RIVR Media for the next 11 years. Another of Lawler's lasting high school and college friendships was with Jim Nehlsen, now a retired vice president at Culp, Inc., a home fashions manufacturer headquartered in Greensboro. Nehlsen, who roomed with Lawler at Chapel Hill, recalls Lawler's kindness toward animals and his deep love for his dogs, a sentiment that characterized his entire adult life, dating back to his college days. Nehlsen also was a colleague of Lawler's at Burlington Industries during the early years.

Lawler, who was raised as a member of the Catholic Church, was preceded in death by his parents, Gene and Rosemary Lawler of Greensboro. He joins them in the Eternal Life promised by their shared faith and belief in the salvation and resurrecting power of the Holy Trinity. Lawler is survived by his sister, Dianne Lawler of Raleigh, North Carolina; and his niece, Mary Hannah Barker of West Hollywood, California.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 5:00 p.m., November 29, at Berry Highland Memorial, 5315 Kingston Pike, in Knoxville. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the COPD Foundation, 3350 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Miami, FL 33134 or the SPCA of the Triad, 3163 Hines Chapel Road, Greensboro, NC 27405. Friends may leave their condolences at HighlandMemorialKnoxville.com.