John F. Dawson

A few years ago, John Dawson and his sister, Jeanne Dawson, were talking on the phone.

“The moon is amazing tonight,” Jeanne remarked.

“The moon is always amazing,” John replied.

John, whose capacity for amazement was a wonder of its own, died on April 15th at the Zilber Family Hospice in Wauwatosa. He was 62.

John loved so many things. His family, of course. And certainly his friends.

But he also loved things as vast as galaxies and as small as acorns. He loved simple tools and complicated machines. He loved dogs and he admired wolves. He liked to tie knots, to carve walking sticks, to peer through telescopes.  He like to camp and to cook and to keep watch over a dying fire.

John worked for Milwaukee Recreation as a naturalist at the Hawthorne Glen Outdoor Education Center.

Earlier this year, the Milwaukee Common Council passed a resolution honoring John and his years of service at the glen.

John was a bit embarrassed when, during a ceremony at the glen, Ald. Michael Murphy and Milwaukee Rec assistant director Brian Litzsey presented him with a copy of the resolution. When a photographer tried to take his picture, John offered to get out of the way so that the photographer might better capture the beauty of the trees behind him.

“Those of us that work here, we just love the place,” John said.

“We look at this place as a living entity. It really is. We just do what we can for it.”

Besides the glen and his sister, Jeanne (Crocker Stephenson), John is survived by his aunt, Ruth Milligan, and three cousins: Kathleen and MaryJean Milligan, and Linda Peters.

A celebration of John’s life is planned for  June 3rd, from 2 to 5 pm, at Hawthorn Glen, 1130 N. 60th St. A memorial bench honoring John will be on display. An informal gathering in the glen’s Assembly Room will begin at 3 p.m.  

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