William
R. Jamison, Jr.
GENEVA — Memorial services for William R. Jamison, Jr. will
be held 2 p.m. Saturday at the United Church, 75 S. Broadway, Geneva, with the Rev. Grant McMichaels officiating.
Mr. Jamison, 49, died June 21, 1995
at his home in Portland, Ore., due to illness caused by AIDS.
A former florist in Jefferson, he
was trhe owner of Jamison
Thomas Gallery
in Portland, which
he established in 1980 as the Folk Craft Gallery. Mr. Jamison was also the assistant producer
of Artscene with Rogers Cable system in Portland
from 1983-1984, and was nationally recognized for his
early support of self-taught and young emerging northwest artists.
Born December 3, 1945 in Ashtabula, he was the son of William Sr. and Alberta (Thompson) Jamison.
He started delivering the Geneva
Free Press when he was ten. He belonged
to Cub Scout Pack 58, Boy Scout Troop 58, the Geneva chapter of Demolay,
and the Freeway Farmers 4-H Club for nine years, leading it for three years.
A 1963 graduate of Geneva High
School, he worked for Beatty Florist from age 14,
eventually buying 80$ of the business and changing the name to Jamison Florist.
Mr. Jamison was instrumental in
Jefferson’s first summer art show and the community’s participation in the
Ashtabula Flower Show and the first Jefferson birthday
sale. He was president of Jefferson
Chamber of Commerce in 1968.
While in Jefferson, he led an
unsuccessful drive to save the historic Benjamin Wade home in Jefferson. He then installed the fireplace from the house
into an historic home he restored in Portland,
Ore.
Mr. Jamison received his
Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education and Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
from Kent State University
in 1970, and a master of fine arts degree there in 1971. He was a member of Delta Psi
Omega social fraternity.
He moved to Portland
in 1974 to teach art at Mount Hood Community College, and started Victoria’s
Nephew, a coffee and sandwich shop in Yamhill Historic District in Portland.
His community service work included
commissioner, Metropolitan Arts Commission, Portland, 1989-91; founder and
member of Steering Committee, Art/AIDS, Portland, 1987-95; board member, Contemporary
Arts Council, Oregon Arts Institute, 1987-89; and board member, Oregon School
of Arts and Crafts, 1985-88.
His awards included the 1992 Governor’s
Award for the Arts; 1994 Women in Communications, Dorothea Lensch
Award for Contributions to the Arts in Oregon;
and 1995 Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
Survivors include his companion
of 14 years, Bradley Rogers of Portland; his
parents of Geneva; two brothers, Thomas Jamison
of Milwaukee and Kenneth Jamison of Houston; and four sisters, Virginia Bilicic
of Ashtabula, Betty Olsen of Mechanicsburg,
Pa., Nancy
Patterson of Jefferson, and Margie Boslett of Painesville.
He was preceded in death by his
grandparents, Thomas and Hazel Jamison, and Albert and Anna Thompson, and a
step=grandfather, Alfred Quick.
Memorials may be made to William
Jamison Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, 1219
SW Park, Portland, Ore. 97205;
William Jamison Lecture Series at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, 8245
SW Barnes Rd., Portland, 97225; or Art/AIDS Fujnd for AIDS Research & Education, c/o Quarter Saw
Gallery, 528 NW 12th, Portland, 97209. Envelopes will be available at The United Church.