Janice Lawton Dwyer

Middletown, - Janice Anne Lawton Dwyer, 67, of 4 Winthrop Street, Middletown, died Saturday, June 26, 2004 at home. She was the wife of the late James Henry Dwyer Jr. Born in Newport, RI on June 20, 1937, she was the daughter of the late Herbert A Lawton and the late Mae McGowan Lawton. She was the first girl born to the Lawton family since 1895. Mrs. Dwyer attended public schools in Newport graduating from Rogers High School in 1955, and the University of Rhode Island with a BS in 1959. She majored in a child development and family relations from the College of Home Economics, which was then an accepted path for a nursery school teacher. She did her practice teaching at the Red Feather United Way Day Care Center in the slums of Boston, MA, during 1959. From 1960 through 1962, she taught kindergarten at he Little Folk Farm, Framingham, MA. She resumed teaching in 1971 at Casey?s Kindergarten Corner in Middletown, RI, until 1976. She then became the head teacher at the YMCA of Newport County, continuing that position until 1982. For many years she was involved in the family retail women?s clothing store, Lawton?s of Newport, on Bellevue Avenue, while in high school and college. From 1966 until the store closed in 1970, Janice was a full time assistant to her mother in managing the store. Beginning in 1983, Janice became a career volunteer, first in the Red Cross program ?KISS? Kids in Safety Seats. When the program was taken over by the Newport Hospital, She assisted in the orderly transition. Mrs. Dwyer was a member and greeter/guide at historic Trinity Church, Newport. She also initiated a new activity for the patients of Forest Farm Health Care Center, Middletown, known as the ?fresh air program? which operates every pleasant day during the summer months. She states that she was inspired to do this as a tribute to her mother who was a patient for four years and who did not know seasons, but could smell the scent of spring. She was a member of Delta Zeta sorority, the Newport and Middletown Historical Societies, and Newport Hospital Auxiliary. She is a cofounder and past officer of the Elizabeth P. Hussey Memorial Scholarship Fund. She is survived by a son, James ?Jay? Henry Dwyer III of Newport, RI; a brother Herbert A. Lawton Jr. of Newport, RI and Nine Nieces and Nephews.Her funeral will be held Wednesday, June 30, at 10:00am in Trinity Church, Queen Anne Square, Newport. Burial will be in Newport Memorial Park in Middletown. Donations may be made in her memory to the Elizabeth P. Hussey Memorial Scholarship Fund, 281 Green End Avenue, Middletown, RI 02842.