After dinner was one of Linda Gonzales' favorite times with her family. That was when her uncle Billy Lawler would take to the piano and play some of her favorite radio tunes.
"I was into Carole King and he learned her music for me," said Mrs. Gonzales, who lives in Cumming. "I'd sing along, and he'd play and sing."
"It was definitely something special between the two of them, because he didn't do that for me or anybody else," added Jane Hughes, his sister, with a light laugh. "It was definitely a special time for the two of them."
And Mr. Lawler's repertoire was expansive, from classical to sacred to popular music, there wasn't much he couldn't play, his sister and niece said.
"As a little boy, he had a natural talent for playing the piano," said Mrs. Hughes, who lives in Cumming. "He could play almost anything by ear as a young boy."
Mr. Lawler went on to spend more than 40 years playing the organ for several churches in the Atlanta area. During his career, he also played for restaurants and special events, Mrs. Gonzales said.
"He loved making beautiful music," she said. "And he loved for people to enjoy the music he played."
William Thomas Lawler, called Billy by most, of Atlanta, died Saturday at Tara Plantation Assisted Living from complications of several illnesses. He was 72. A graveside service is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Westview Cemetery. H.M. Patterson, Spring Hill, is in charge of arrangements.
An Atlanta native, Mr. Lawler attended Haygood Memorial United Methodist Church as a youth, and began playing the organ there as a teen, his sister said. After graduating from Grady High School in 1958, he earned his bachelor's degree from Olgethorpe University, but his degree was not in music.
"He taught school for a little while, but left that," his sister said. "He really wanted to be a musician."
During Mr. Lawler's tenure as a church organist, he not only played for Haygood, but for the Church of Our Saviour, the Cathedral of Christ the King and others, family members said.
Dr. Timothy Wissler, cathedral organist at the Cathedral of Christ the King said Mr. Lawler was a "quiet, soft-spoken man" who chose to let the organ speak for him.
"He made beautiful music," said Dr. Wissler, who began working at the church in 1987. "He had a great ear and he could make mass exciting with what he did with the organ and music."
Mr. Lawler never married, and dedicated his time to his first love, his mother, and his second love, music. He stopped playing after his mother got sick in the mid-'90s to tend to her full-time. But after she died in 2002, he didn't return to the music, Mrs. Hughes said.
"He really enjoyed playing for mother," she said. "Mother and music were his life."
In addition to his sister and niece, Mr. Lawler is also survived by a nephew, Jay Warren Hughes, of Gainesville.
About the Author
