Eleanor Lawton

Long time resident Eleanor Lawton passed away March 6th, 2013 at St. Johns Living Center in Jackson. She was born Eleanor Anna Piwinski in Cleveland, Ohio in 1928. Her family moved soon after that to Gary, Indiana to work in the new steel mills there. Her father Edward was a steelworker most of his life. She attended what is now Ball State University and graduated with a degree in education and the first female of her extended family to graduate from college. Upon graduation she took a position as a teacher in Gary. In 1952, she was introduced to the brother of a fellow teacher, Fritz Lawton. Fritz was returning to Wyoming after serving with the Army in Korea. She followed him to Wyoming and they were married in 1953. They moved to Laramie so Fritz could get his degree. After he graduated from the University of Wyoming, they moved to Gary for him to pursue his Masters in Education Administration. They moved back to Wyoming in 1960. Eleanor taught junior high English and Drama in Jackson for many years. She was a member of the Historical Society, CowBelles, Homemakers and volunteered at the library. Her favorite hobby was fishing with her husband on the Snake and Jackson Lake. They spent a lot of nights around campfires at South Landing and Half Moon Bay on the Jackson Lake. Fritz passed away in 1985 and she continued to work and volunteer at the junior high for several years. She is survived by three sons. Pete of Jackson Hole, Ned of Moscow, Idaho, and Rick in Denver. She also has a granddaughter, Jana, and great granddaughter, Anya, in Ft. Collins; grandson Chase in Denver and grandson CJ in Laramie. There will be cremation and a memorial service will held in the spring when she will be placed in the Town Cemetery next to Fritz. Donations may be made in her name to the Historical Society.

---