Grandma Lawler in the News Sun Jan 17

I will include the link as well as the story itself.

This was in Friday's paper. Three things I can always say about my grandmother, 1. she is an entertainer, and 2. she is musical. 3. she is alwsys on the move. The combo makes for a fun spontaneous and unpredictable life.

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Chances are if you have ever attended a baptism, if you have heard Primary children sing in sacrament meeting on Mother's Day or listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's CD "Love Is Spoken Here," you have enjoyed sweet melodies penned by Jeanne Lawler.

Thanks to Lawler, staples such as "I Often Go Walking," "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized," "Family History, I Am Doing It," "The Holy Ghost" and "I'm All Made of Hinges" are sung at church events and by wiggly Primary children every week the world over.

But these beloved songs are mere pieces of the puzzle. The spunky, 85-year-old Lawler has led a life that legends are made of.

She served in the U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence during World War II, working with 13 different languages. She graduated with her bachelor's from BYU at age 57. She's gone on multiple missions -- including ones to Sweden, Africa and India.

"When Jeanne moved to Cedar City, my sister told me, 'you've got to meet this neat lady -- she's taking classes in Russian!' " laughed longtime friend Kathryn Ipson.

Lawler has rented a little apartment from Ipson three or four times throughout the years. "She's always on the move, even now," Ipson said.

Lawler was born and raised in Minnesota, or "Minneh-so-tah," as she cheerily pronounces it, among stalwart Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians.



With her natural musical talent, she wrote music early on for the Gospel Light publishing company.

One day in 1964, Mormon missionaries left a pamphlet about Joseph Smith under her door.

"When I saw that pamphlet, I thought, 'Elijah's come and I've missed him!' " But the missionaries returned and she informed them they better come in that very second and start talking to her.

"(After my baptism) I sent out copies of the Book of Mormon to everyone I knew," Lawler said. But besides her only daughter, Lorna Rosenstein, 54, Lawler was the only one in her family to join the church.

"They're very religious people. My niece's husband is vice president to Billy Graham," she said. "But I tried to get them to join, anyway! They thought, 'This is just one of Jeanne's crazy ideas!' -- and that I'd get over it."

But the gospel came as a great comfort at the perfect time: Lawler was in her 40s and in the middle of a difficult divorce with her first husband.

"Jeanne tells about how they're driving away, and her daughter's crying. So to cheer her up, she composed a little song right then and there," said Ipson. "She has just been always ready to serve others with her talents and make everyone feel special."

Lawler came to Utah and started a new life.

She was invited to be a dorm mother at BYU to more than 260 girls. One of Elder Dallin H. Oaks' cousins, who was the bishop in the student ward, heard that she could play the piano and asked her to play for the Sunday School.

"I told him, 'Well, I really don't know your music yet, but I'll give it a whirl!' " said Lawler.

The song was "Count Your Many Blessings." She sat down at the piano and jazzed it up "Billy Graham-style."

"The first verse, nobody did anything," laughed Lawler. "After it was over, they very sweetly said, 'We don't think we've ever heard it like that before.' "

In her ward at BYU, Lawler became good friends with Phyllis Luch, an illustrator for The Friend magazine.

Luch told Lawler she wanted to write words to one of Lawler's melodies and "I Often Go Walking" was born.

They sent it in to the church and they took it right away, no changes.

"It was so lovely," recalled Lawler. "I had never written any music for (the LDS Church) before that."

She married Fred Lawler, a bishop at the time, in 1967 in the Salt Lake Temple and became stepmother to Bill, Sara and Anne. The couple eventually served in the Ohio Cleveland Mission together from 1983-85. He passed away shortly after their return.

Lawler went on to serve missions on her own, including a memorable excursion to India in 1993 when she and a small Indian choir she had put together entered a Christmas music contest -- and were put down on the program as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

"We were stunned," said Lawler. But they bravely got up and sang "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains" with Lawler on piano -- and won the contest.

Though her mission adventures are behind her, Lawler is constantly serving others, chiefly by being a dedicated visiting teacher and "master organizer," instructing others on how to de-junk their lives -- mainly members of the Cedar 9th Ward in the Cedar City Utah West Stake.

"She'll dress up in funny clothes from the D.I. and go talk to groups about saving money," said Ipson. "She'll get the audience just laughing and laughing."

Lawler doesn't write music for money or publication.

She gives her music out for free.

Lawler's enthusiasm is infectious as she shares how a desire for happiness has shaped her life's motto: "Keep going and make every day a happy day; make yourself a blessing for someone by sharing your happy spirit."