Allen Walter Sawyer

SAWYER, ALLEN WALTER, 72, of Gainesville, FL, passed away at home in February following a brief illness.

Allen was the son of Herbert A. Sawyer, Jr., professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Florida, and Bette H. Sawyer, adult reading instructor and community volunteer. Allen was born on November 14, 1952 in Connecticut, and for many years even as a child, he referred to himself as "a Connecticut Yankee." In 1962, the family relocated to Gainesville. He grew up in a home filled with books, music, and family friends.

Classical music was the common thread running through his life. He had perfect pitch, and was known to cringe when any performer was a quarter-tone flat. He began his musical life as a piano student of Faye Lewis Miles in Gainesville, where he frequently appeared in piano festivals and competitions in Gainesville and the southeast, routinely earning the "superior" designation from panels of judges. Recordings of his playing Chopin's Revolutionary Etude "à tempo," along with other advanced piano compositions will be a continued source of joy for his descendants, if they can be located somewhere amidst the wide array of items he collected at his property in southeast Gainesville.

From studying piano, Allen moved to the violin, and was a student of Sonnhild Frey Kitts. Mrs. Kitts encouraged Allen to audition for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, but independent as ever, without asking Mrs. Kitts' approval, he auditioned playing the viola, as it was better suited to his larger hands. Although he had never had a viola lesson, the Jacksonville Symphony accepted him in its viola section, which annoyed Mrs. Kitts and amused Allen.

In his adult years, Allen was self-employed, always coming up with novel ways to use his remarkable gifts and passion for independence to march to the beat of a different drum. Along with music performance, Allen studied to become a certified piano technician, and for many years both tuned and moved pianos all over north Florida, supplementing his income by delivering telephone books and doing yard work for the Hari Krishnas on the UF Campus in exchange for meal tickets. He used to say that the Hari Krishnas could feed him every day for the rest of his life, and he'd still have tickets left. He enjoyed debating theology with people of different faiths, and spent many hours reading the Bible and coming up with unusual biblical interpretations. Toward the end of his life, he rode his bicycle all over Gainesville, collecting cast off gardening equipment, which he planned to repair and sell. He always seemed to know how the Gators were doing in any given sport.

Although his humble appearance and blunt speech caused him to be misunderstood by people of conventional sensibilities, he lived a scrupulously pure and honest life, and was entirely gentle toward all creatures. The world was not worthy of him.

He is survived by his sister, Vivian Ruth Sawyer of Gainesville and Louisville, KY, nephew Andrew Montgomery Noland (Ashley Wimsett Noland) of Louisville, KY, niece Sidney Victoria Noland Wood (Dane Wood) of Grand Junction, CO, five grand-nieces and -nephews, paternal aunts Doris Sawyer Jimison and Barbara Sawyer Bradley, and numerous first cousins.

The family has chosen cremation, and a memorial service will be held in September at Trinity United Methodist Church. For information about the service, please contact the church.