Robert Widing Lawson

Robert Widing Lawson passed away on December 15, 2025 at his home in Concord after a brave battle with Glioblastoma and Parkinsons. Born on January 21, 1953 in Nyack, New York, Bob was the son of Arthur and Helen (Widing) of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and the brother of Richard, Peter, and Karen (now Waintroob).

Bob’s family moved often during his childhood, and he grew up in Mequon, Wisconsin; Palatine, Illinois; Wilton, Connecticut, and finally, Deerfield, Illinois. Summers were spent at a cabin on the Widing family homestead on Cousins Island in Yarmouth, Maine.

Bob embraced a fun-loving and adventurous spirit from an early age with a group of friends from Wilton, CT who called themselves the TSG—Tom Sawyer Gang. The teenagers hitchhiked widely, canoed the Connecticut and Mississippi rivers, and even hopped a freight train.

Bob attended Deerfield Academy (class of 1971) for his junior and senior years of high school where he forged lifelong frienships, sang in the choir, had a guitar duo, and won the Greenfield, MA talent show for his Mack the Knife medley on piano. He then attended Bowdoin College (class of 1975, major in history) where he met his life partner, Janet Keydel in his sophomore year. Friends called them the ‘Bobbsey Twins,’ and they were inseparable ever after.

Inspired by the Beatles, Bob’s love of music was an essential thread throughout his life. After college, Bob and Janet built Blue Jay Studio, a world-class recording studio, under a hill in Carlisle, MA. Bob managed the studio from 1979 to 2001. It became a hub for the vibrant local music community, and also a place that attracted greats like Yo-Yo Ma, Billy Joel, and Aerosmith, and which produced Gold, Platinum, and Grammy-winning records. Helping artists create was immensely satisfiying to Bob, but he also derived tremendous satisfaction from the opportunity the studio created for his recording engineers, who continued to have great careers after the studio was sold.

After Blue Jay, Bob went into the field of legal videography, and also put his creativity to work in the new medium by producing family histories and collaborating with the Vaudeville Puppets for some fun shorts, including “The Midnight Ride of Me and Paul Revere,” which was shown for several seasons at the Minuteman National Historical Park visitor center.

Active in Concord and easily recognizable by his Henry David Thoreau beard, Bob was a founding member of ConcordCAN (climate action netword) and a passionate environmentalist. He volunteered with TriCon Church and the Mass Audubon Society, where he led bird walks for decades. He co-authored “Birding by Ear,” a series of audio field guides published by Houghton Mifflin in the Peterson Field Guide series. He also created “The Kids Collection of Greatest Classics,” a three-volume set of classical melodies for children, which won a Children’s Choice award.

Bob was a family man above all. He was a devoted husband to Janet and father to their three children, Barrett, Julia, and Sawyer. The family spent summers at Pointe Aux Barques, Michigan on Lake Huron, where Bob took the kids sailing and fishing. Bob was very involved in his children’s lives, and he shared with them his passion for music. They formed the “Lawson Family Band” and performed widely at school, church, and town events, with a repertoire ranging from classical to rock & roll. Bob and his children continued to perform music into their adulthood as the “Ramblin’ Boys.”

Bob had a sense of humor and life-force that drew people to him. He maintained strong relationships from all phases of his life, and was grateful for reaching his 50th anniversary with Janet; for his three grandchildren, Grace, Logan, and James; and for new family members Maddy Tillotson and Santi Dueñas. In his last year, his devoted friends and family showed up for him, a testament to a life well-lived.

In lieu of flowers,the family welcomes donations in Bob’s memory to either Mass Audubon Society or The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

We also invite you to share your memories of Bob in the Concord Funeral Guestbook and to view some of Bob’s creative projects through the links below.

Discovering an underground recording studio built like a bomb shelter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zBFP6WP7tg

Four Beatles songs by the Ramblin’ Boys at Concord’s 375th Birthday party:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnsXoyfv1lM&list=RDJnsXoyfv1lM&start_radio=1

The Midnight Ride of Me and Paul Revere with Vaudeville Puppets:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A-qKgGv79Zk

The Kids Collection of Greatest Classics on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2WufW2N9ydTx3s8f2DqVaZ?si=KMvMR1V1QrS-_wCK0DxkMA

Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Bob on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 11:00 am in the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden St., Concord, MA.

Arrangements are under the care of Concord Funeral Home, 74 Belknap Street, Concord, MA 01742 978-369-3388 www.concordfuneral.com