John Irwin

John Preston Irwin Jr., died March 3, 2011 at is Cleveland Heights residence. John was the son of John Preston Irwin and Josephine Saxer Irwin and the younger brother of William Pryor Irwin and the late Elizabeth Saxer Irwin Harnar Budden. John Lived at 18681 Rivercliff Drive, Fairview later Fairview Park, Ohio through childhood and school. He attended Garnet School, Fairview, Ohio from kindergarten through grade six, and Fairview High School, Fairview, Ohio from grade six until graduation in June 1948. John went on to attend Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia from September 1948 until June 1949. John worked as a laboratory technician at Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. an industrial paint factory in Cleveland, Ohio until October 1950, when he left for the US Marine Corps at age twenty. The Korean War was on and rather than waiting to be drafted, he enlisted in the Regular Corps. John did not go overseas but after extensive training, became a guided missile electronic technician in San Diego, California and in China Lake, California, attaining the rank of "Buck" Sergeant. In January 1952, John was married to Phoebe Lintern in Cleveland, Ohio. John was stationed at San Diego, California at the time and they were married in Cleveland while he was on leave, and they went immediately to San Diego to set up house. In October 1953, John was discharged from the Marine Corps and returned to Cleveland. John attended Case Institute of Technology now Case Western Reserve from January 1954 to June 1956, studying electrical engineering. John obtained a job as a salesman with the Republic Steel Cop. of Cleveland and underwent an extensive training program based in Cleveland, and traveled to all of Republic's facilities throughout the Midwest. After training, John was assigned to Williamsville, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. In late 1959, Phoebe and John separated. He quit his job, sold the house, and moved to San Francisco, California. He sold automobiles at first and then drifted into painting and advertising sales. A second son, Thomas William Irwin was born October 4, 1961. On March 21, 1962, John and Margaret Isobel "Sandy" Sanderson were married in San Francisco. In June 1962, John persuaded the printer he was working for to start ARTFORUM Magazine. In the beginning, he was the publisher, editor, mail boy, etc., doing whatever was necessary and laying out the first issues on the floor of his home. Soon he bought out the original printer, moved to a new office, and hired several others to edit the magazine. In January 1966, John and Sandy moved back to Cleveland. John became Executive Director of the Heights Area Chamber of Commerce. In March 1981, John quit drinking. He was hospitalized to "dry out" and started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He was a sober example since that date. From 1989-1992, John made a series of terra cotta sculptured busts of family members and friends. He first tried sculpture in Buffalo-only a self-portrait remains. On May 21, 1997, John's beloved wife Sandy died of Lung Cancer. "You'll be around for a long time," but won't be pinned down to what that means. In August 2005, John's son, John, died of Lupus, cancer, and complications in Houston, Texas. PRIVATE FAMILY SERVICE


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