Thomas Kesler McLAUGHLIN Jr.

McLAUGHLIN, Thomas Kesler Jr., noted architect and loving father, friend, husband, brother, died at home January 5, 2012 after two years of treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was cared for until the end by his son, Tommy; his daughter, Mary Elizabeth; and his wife, Mary. He is survived also by his sister, Katherine Pollard and her husband, Monty Pollard, of Greenville, N.C., among his extended family. Mr. McLaughlin held an undergraduate degree in architecture from North Carolina State University and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University. In 1983, he became the 100th recipient of the Rotch Traveling Scholarship for architectural design, the oldest award of its kind in the United States. After moving from Boston to Richmond, Va. in 1989, he designed a number of significant new construction projects. Among these are Richmond Newspapers' Production Facilities; HeiligMeyers Corporate Headquarters, St. Francis Cancer Center; the Oliver Hill Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts Building; new courts facilities for Spotsylvania County, Henry County and the City of Hopewell. Traces may be found in these buildings of Mr. McLaughlin's favorite architects, including Willem Marinus Dudok and Frank Lloyd Wright. He also loved researching and designing the reconstruction and renovation of historic structures. In 1986, he won a Massachusetts Governor's Design Award for the Boston Children's Museum and Museum of Transportation on Museum Wharf, a project involving the renovation of an 1890's heavy-timber framed warehouse. Most recently, Mr. McLaughlin served as Principal/Researcher and Architect for Henricus Historical Park. However, it is the Blackfriars Playhouse that Mr. McLaughlin himself regarded as best illustrating his talents. Mr. McLaughlin came to this project after co-founding the Richmond Shakespeare Globe Center with his dear friend Peter Wiggins. The eventual result of their effort, with the help of many others, is the Blackfriars Playhouse, where thousands over the past ten years have experienced Shakespeare's plays in a setting resembling as closely as possible the venue of their original production. Dating from his early days in Tarboro, N.C., where he played quarterback, point guard, and starting pitcher for his high school teams, Mr. McLaughlin was an inveterate sports fan and Wolfpack booster. He rated his greatest personal achievement as "going perfect from the foul line" (4 for 4) in 1968 as a freshman walk on at North Carolina State. A memorial service will be held at the Branch House, 2501 Monument Avenue, Richmond, Va., 23220 on January 10, 2012, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. All who knew or loved Tom are invited to attend and share in his memory. In lieu of flowers, Tom encouraged donations to the American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, Virginia.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.