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Jerrold Lawless
Jerrold Lawless, 82, former
Tulsa resident, passed away on
June 25, 2016. He was born May
15, 1934 in Fort Scott, Kansas, to
Clarence and Virginia Lawless.
Mr. Lawless married his high
school
sweetheart,
Kathryn
McElroy on August 28, 1954.
Kathryn passed away on August 31, 2008 and Jerrold went
on to marry Georgia Mobly.
In 1956 Jerrold was drafted into
the U.S. Army and played clarinet
in the Sixth Army Band stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco. He graduated from
the University of Michigan in 1956 and 1960
where he received a Bachelor’s of Music
Education and a Master’s degree in Wind
Instruments. Jerrold was the instrumental
music conductor at Central High School
for eight years and developed award-winning high school marching and concert
bands as well as an outstanding orchestra.
For 14 years, Jerrold was director of the
Young Tulsans, a group of Tulsa area high
school musicians outside the regular school
programs. In 1968 he was voted Tulsa’s
Outstanding Young Man of the year by the
Tulsa Downtown and Southeast Jaycees, for
his work with the Young Tulsans band. In
August 1970, the Young Tulsans participated in the Sixth World Music Contest in Kerkrade, Holland. The Senior Band won three
first prize gold medals in Concert, Marching, and Show Competition in the First Division and won the Grand Prize Award for
the highest total points for the weekend.
Jerrold was director of instrumen-
tal music at Tulsa Community
College
(TCC)
from
1970 to his retirement from
full time teaching in 2000.
Upon his retirement he was
one of only 20 original staff and
faculty members who had been
with TJC/TCC since its creation
in 1970. He led three different
groups at TCC: the UltraSonics in
the 1970s; the TCC Community
Band from 1978 to 2008 and the
TCC Orchestra from 1981 to 2008.
In 1989, the TCC Band became the first
Oklahoma Band ever selected to perform at
the 11th annual National Convention of the
Association of Concert Bands in Salinas, CA.
He was inducted into the Sandite Hall of Fame at Charles Page High
School in May 2004.
In 2007, Jerrold was selected into the Oklahoma
Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame.
His major hobbies were woodworking,
reading and watching football and basketball.
Jerrold is survived by his wife Georgia
Lawless; brother, Lyndon Lawless; sons,
Alan, Jeff and Sean Lawless, daughter
Mimi Blanchard; seven grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren. He also leaves
behind a host of colleagues and students
who played very important roles in his life.
Memorial service will be 2 p.m., Thursday, June 30, 2016 at First Presbyterian
Church in Tulsa, 709 S. Boston, Tulsa.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions
can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Moore’s Southlawn 918-663-2233. Share
memories at www.moorefuneral.com