Wall of Honor architect dies
Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bvwv/News/6705/
Leonard “ Vern ” Watten, 86, a retired architect who designed the Northwest Arkansas Veteran’s Wall of Honor, died in his Bella Vista home Sunday. He was born on Sept. 9, 1921, in Minneapolis, living there until he retired to Bella Vista in 1997. Watten was an architect for nearly five decades and had many professional achievements in the Minneapolis area. He attended the University of Minnesota but left to enlist in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He was able to complete his degree after his time in the navy, attending school with benefit of the G. I. Bill.
During the war, Watten served on the USS Meriweather in the Pacific Theater and participated in the invasion of Okinawa.
Watten met his wife, Jacqueline, while attending college and they married 58 years ago, shortly after he graduated.
“ Vern always had a passion for everything, whether the Wall, painting, or designing a school. His passion for our family was above everything else, ” said Jacqueline Watten.
Before his retirement, Watten and was the director of design for Patch, Erickson, Madson & Watten Architects. His designs included schools, university buildings, a jail, parking structure, medical clinics and Veterans me- Watten: morials. Watten designed only a few homes,
Watten will be remembered in Bella Vista for the Veterans Wall of Honor. He was one of the charter members for the Veterans Council that conceived and executed completion of the memorial.
“ Vernon was special; we couldn’t have done it without him, said Leonard Eisert, who founded the Veterans Wall of Honor with Watten and five others.
“ He was attentive to every detail and real proud of the work he did, ” said Bill Miller, current president of the council. “ He’ll be sorely missed and we look forward to continuing his legacy. ”
Watten was 79 years old when they began work on the Veteran’s Wall, according to Eisert.
“ He worked very hard. It was his legacy. ”
Watten’s participation in the project extended beyond the design.
“ He helped select the site for the Wall, ” remembered Richard LaBrie. “ The biggest problem he had with us was his design was handdrawn, not on a computer like these days, and when we made changes it was a major operation and he would pull more hair out. ”
The circular design of the Veterans Wall was very important to Watten. In his Architect’s Statement, he wrote, “ This monument employs the circular enclosure as the form that historically has offered safe keeping for those e contained within and currently for those honored here. ”
Friends and family remembered it also reflected his research of Stonehenge in Great Britain.
“ He was primarily a designer, ” noted his widow, “ where one person is responsible for every square foot (in a building ). That’s the way he was, very methodical. ”
Watten was a gifted artist and won several ribbons at the Benton County Fair for his Lobster and Lily Pad pictures.
“ They best showed his style, ” reflected daughter Molly.
Circles are reflected in his artwork as well, and the design of his backyard is of overlapping circles to create paths.
“ The circle is classic and very important to him, ” said Jacqueline Watten.
He loved to share his work and took his model of the Veterans Wall to a Gravette school sixth grade class — taught by daughter Lisa — to inspire their own model making.
Watten belonged to the American Legion Post 341 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9063, both in Bella Vista.
Watten is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; daughter Molly Merkle of Corpus Christi, Texas; daughter Meredith Moroles of Cerrillos, N. M.; son Barney Watten of Winchester, Va.; daughter Lisa Watten of Bella Vista; and eight grandchildren.
A memorial will be held at 10 a. m., Aug. 2, at the Veterans Wall of Honor, and will be officiated by a Navy chaplain. There will be a reception following at the Veterans of Foreign Wars next to the memorial.
The family asks that memorials be made to the Veterans Wall of Historical Preservation Funds, in care of Veterans Congress of Northwest Arkansas, P. O. Box 3085, Bella Vista, Ark., 72715.