Joseph William Lawler

1937 - 2025

Joseph (Jay) William Lawler

January 17, 1937 - January 12, 2025

Jay Lawler passed away peacefully on January 12, just shy of his 88th birthday, in his home surrounded by his family. He grew up in the mountain town of Clifton Forge, Virginia, and attended The College of William and Mary where he met the love of his life, Kathryn Watson. Kathy and Jay married and started their family in Williamsburg. After their graduation his sales career took him back to Clifton Forge, then to Roanoke, and finally to Richmond in 1966 when he joined IBM. In 1969 he started building homes on the side, and ultimately left IBM in 1972 to make homebuilding his full-time career. After a nearly 50-year career building over 1000 homes he retired, but he couldn't stymie that entrepreneurial spirit so he invested in and led a small business his remaining years.

Jay worked hard and played hard, and he also gave to his community, a commitment that started as a youth in the Jaycees. He coached little league football for 8 years (boasting of one undefeated season when they were unscored on!), was president of the Bon Air Lions Club, and served on the advisory board of BB&T. He also served as chairman of the William and Mary Athletic Education Foundation.

He was a man of many passions: his family, his church, and his golf game - beating his age well over twenty times. A constant in his life was William and Mary athletics. All three of their children graduated from William and Mary as well as their oldest grandchild, Kieran. So if one day you think you hear a voice from heaven on a chilly fall breeze, it could very well be Jay hollering "GO TRIBE!"

Jay is survived by his wife of 65 years, Kathryn Watson Lawler; son Jay Bradford Lawler (Veronica), daughters Kelly Lawler Cleary (Pat) and Terry Lawler Usry (Todd); granddaughters Kieran Elizabeth Cleary, Kathryn Lawler Andrew (Jacob), Summers Bernice Cleary, Jean Kilmartin Cleary, Mary Elizabeth Usry; his grandson August Lawler Usry; and his great grandson Byron Dainger Cleary-Davison. He is predeceased by his parents, Cletus Highland Lawler, Sr. and Charlotte Summers Lawler; his sisters Delores Lawler Stevens (Tom) and Carole Lawler Drake (Ron), and his brother Cletus Highland Lawler, Jr. (Ginny).

A funeral service will be held Friday, January 24th, at 1:30 p.m. at Salisbury Presbyterian Church, 13621 W Salisbury Rd., Midlothian, VA 23113, followed by a reception at Salisbury Country Club.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to support William & Mary through a gift to the Joseph W. & Kathy W. Lawler Athletic Scholarship Endowment (1357). Checks should be made payable to the William & Mary Foundation and mailed to, Gift Administration, P.O. Box 1693, Harlan, Iowa 51593-1993. Please note the designation and that the gift is made in memory of Jay Lawler. Payments may also be made by Venmo, PayPal or credit card - https://impact.wm.edu/lawler.