John Gagnon | dearbornart

John Gagnon
1929-2023

John Gagnon passed away on New Year’s Eve after a brief illness. He was 94.

We’d like everyone at the Club to know how much the club meant to my father. He was a member for about 50 years, joining in the late 60s/early 70s and remaining a member until recently. I believe he served on the club board in all functions – President, Vice President, Treasurer and, most recently, Secretary.

My brother, sister and I remember spending weekends at the Dearborn Inn when the club exhibited and sold art on the front lawn of the hotel, and in recent years, we enjoyed going with my father to the exhibits at the Rotunda and Padzieski Galleries.

In the last months of his life, we talked about his artwork – the acrylics and the oils from earlier years, his art for the monthly challenges, and the water colors that he loved working with in recent years...

Thank you, Lauren Gagnon

John was my right-hand man (literally since he always sat on that side) when I was President of the Artists' Society of Dearborn, and he was the Recording Secretary. I could always count on him to make notes and agenda items that might be carried into the next month/year. That was a huge relief to me since I knew once John wrote it down, I didn't have to think about it again. I trusted your father to let me know when the item would need to be addressed and he always did.

And his art...! By the time we served on the Board together, John Gagnon was not entering the exhibits or monthly challenges on a regular basis. I remember the last time he brought in a landscape painting, for an exhibit. I just remember being awed by the composition, colors and amount of detail in it. It was simply wonderful.

Janet Kondziela