11/24/2010
By ERIN MATHEWS Salina Journal

A Salina man who became internationally known for innovative work on the forefront of school design died Sunday, leaving four public school buildings and much of the former Marymount campus behind as his legacy in Salina.

Funeral services for John A. Shaver, 92, will be at 3 p.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, 308 S. Eighth.

John Smutz, a former partner in Shaver and Co., said Shaver was the architect for the former Hageman Elementary School, which now houses the Central Kansas Cooperative in Education, 409 W. Cloud; Sunset Elementary, 1510 W. Republic; Salina South Middle School, 2040 S. Fourth; and Salina South High School, 730 E. Magnolia.

On the Marymount campus, Shaver designed the fine arts building, gymnasium and two dormitories.

"If there is such a thing as an educational design genius in architecture, he had to be it," Smutz said.

Shaver's buildings have become a part of the landscape for students all over the country. He designed more than 300 educational buildings in a 30-year period, and created design innovations that still have an impact on instructional space design.

"He was very famous," Smutz said. "He was in Time Magazine, Life Magazine and the Wall Street Journal for his innovative school designs."

Shaver began his career as a partner in his father's architectural practice. When he joined the firm, most of the work being done by his father was church design, Smutz said.

Charles W. Shaver, who completed more than 800 projects, many in Salina, as well as other parts of Kansas, and Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado and Iowa, has been inducted into the Salina Chamber of Commerce's Business Hall of Fame. The first registered architect in the state of Kansas, Charles Shaver died in 1961 at the age of 71.

Smutz said the older Shaver and the younger Shaver sometimes weren't inclined to speak to each other and would deliver messages through Smutz, whose office was between theirs.

"They didn't always see eye to eye," Smutz said.

As the younger Shaver took a more active role in the firm, the business slowly evolved away from churches toward school design.

"We had work you wouldn't believe -- hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work," Smutz said. "We hired everybody we could hire."

Shaver was a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Tennessee's school planning laboratory, where former University of Kansas Chancellor Archie Dykes was one of his students, Smutz said. He also designed American schools in London and Singapore and was the sole private industry participant in educational design research sponsored by the Ford Foundation.

Shaver orchestrated major K-through-12 school redesign projects in Greeley, Colo., and Clarkesville, Tenn.

"Forty-thousand school administrators met every year in Atlantic City, and he was often the principal speaker at their meetings," Smutz said. "He gave a lot of speeches internationally about trends in education design."

Smutz said he and Shaver were as close as brothers, and he was also close to Shaver's parents.

"I could tell you John Shaver stories from now until midnight," he said.

Smutz frequently traveled with Shaver, putting a lot of miles on Shaver's Lincoln Continental, which was the first air-conditioned vehicle in Salina.

"John was a very fast driver," he said. "Then the speed limits were 55 during the day and 50 at night. John's car wouldn't go that slow."

Smutz said he remembers one trip home from Nebraska when Shaver got four or five speeding tickets for driving at least 90 miles an hour. Smutz, who grew up in Nebraska, said he directed Shaver to roads he didn't think would be patrolled, but he was wrong.

At the time, the practice was for highway patrol officers to follow drivers to the next town to ensure that they dropped their envelope with fine money in the mail.

By the last ticket that night, Smutz said neither he nor Shaver had any money left, so the highway patrolman paid the fine himself and even gave them a couple bucks for hamburgers and coffee.

When they would return to Salina, often between midnight and 3 a.m., Shaver had a habit of calling the owners of the former Oasis steakhouse, who would open up and serve up thick steaks, drinks and hashbrowns.

"Time meant nothing to the two of us," Smutz said. "We traveled so much at night."

If Smutz wasn't traveling with Shaver, he was meeting him at the A&G Cafe at 7 a.m. every Sunday to keep him apprised of what was happening in the Salina office.

Smutz worked with Shaver's firm from 1953 to 1970, when he joined Wilson and Co., where he worked until he retired.

"I get calls once a week from somebody wanting to know if we did their building," he said. "We had so much work you wouldn't believe."

Jim Geisendorf said he and Shaver had been friends and fellow golfers for more than 50 years.

"I've always enjoyed being with him," he said. "Particularly at this stage of the game, I don't have too many of them (old friends) left."

Jon Plumer, chief architect for Wilson and Co., said he worked for Shaver for a year.

"I remember him as kind of a big-picture guy," Plumer said.

Plumer said he would work on drawings on Saturdays, and when he came back to the office Monday morning, Shaver had marked corrections and suggestions on them with his red pen.

"He was constantly evaluating not only the function but also the looks of the building," Plumer said.

Salina architect Don Marrs said he remembers a time when Shaver gave a favorable review to one of Marrs' projects.

"As a young architect, to have one of my peers acknowledge work I'd done is something I've never forgotten," Marrs said.

n Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by e-mail at emathews@salina.com.

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