Deceased August 2, 2003
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In Memory
Joe Garton died of cancer on Aug. 2, 2003. I met Joe at Amherst when we were both freshman in 1965, and he has since been a dear friend and a major part of my life. When I first met him, I was taken by his energy, his humor and his warmth. An early recollection is a picnic in the woods, where, after chugging a beer, he recited Robert Frost while climbing to the top of a small birch tree and swinging gracefully to the ground. This lively guy from Sheboygan certainly knew how to have a good time, but there was always a serious artistic undercurrent.
Joe became a temporary campus legend during exams one year. He was studying voice, and while he studied for exams in a glassed-in study carol in Robert Frost library, he started to sing a rendition of “Ave Maria,” which he had been working on with his voice teacher. He realized that no one seemed to notice: it must be a soundproof room. He uncorked a few solo pieces as he studied, and then looked up to see several dozen students pressed up near the glass staring at him. He grabbed his books and fled. The ongoing legend lived on for years about the student who lost it in the library during exams. Note that again the arts played a role.
My senior year he introduced me to his Smith College cousin, Diane Garton. Diane reciprocated by introducing Joe to her friend, Deirdre Wilson. Both couples got married in the summer of 1970. In 1977, we all came to Madison, Wis. The four of us remained very close, enjoying our growing families together (seven children among us).
Joe made a great mark on the world professionally running an Amherst art gallery, serving on the Wisconsin Arts Board and converting an 1850 farmhouse into one of Wisconsin’s premier restaurants, Quivey’s Grove.
But his final passion was to save a historic residence from destruction. In 1996 a developer planned to level the famed summer residence of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the nation’s leading stage acting team ion from the mid-1920s to the late 1950s. The summer home, Ten Chimneys, was a haven for theater luminaries such as Noel Coward, Helen Hayes, Laurence Olivier and Katherine Hepburn. Joe, appalled by the prospect of its destruction, bought the property and then led a $12.5 million fundraising effort to restore the property to its earlier glory. He was an active part of the grand opening of the Ten Chimneys facility, an achievement that was touted just weeks before his death in a two-page article in the Sunday New York Times.
One of the finest tributes to Joe was an editorial in Madison’s Capital Times, shortly after his death, comparing his efforts to those of Frank Lloyd Wright. Here is an excerpt: “Joe Garton, the restaurateur, supporter of the arts and dreamer of big dreams who died Saturday after a fight with cancer, saw buildings as Wright did. While he was trained as a historian of the arts rather than as an architect, Garton brought buildings to life. In doing so, he saved treasures that Wisconsin might otherwise have lost. ... Wright and Garton were of a kind in the sense that they recognized what beautiful buildings could mean to this state. Like Wright, Garton created a legacy that will outlast him.”
Joe was a man of great integrity, drive and wit. Hundreds of family, friends and admirers attended a memorial celebration at the Ten Chimneys estate on Aug. 11. His wonderful family and friends mourn his loss. He left us far too early.
David Edie ’69