Buildings for God
Architect listened to people's needs in designing churches, schools.
By Eileen E. Flynn

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Don Tew loved churches, and he loved the Lord. For him, there was no better job than to give glory to God with his architectural skills.

Over the past four decades, Tew used his talent to design 68 church sanctuaries and buildings — including his beloved Hyde Park Baptist Church — and some 30 Central Texas schools, his favorite being Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park.



Don Tew 1941-2006


Tew, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, died at home Monday. He was 65. Services will be at 1 p.m. today at Hyde Park Baptist, 3901 Speedway, with his former pastor, the Rev. Ralph Smith, presiding.

Stained glass and soaring steeples up and down the Interstate 35 corridor — as well as churches in New Mexico and Florida — attest to Tew's passion for traditional church architecture.

Almost every elementary school in the Leander school district reflects his vision.

Born in Austin on Jan. 3, 1941, Tew grew up as a third-generation member of Hyde Park Baptist Church, where he would later serve as chairman of deacons and a Sunday school teacher.

Tew attended Baylor University for a time, with plans to go to medical school. Smith said Tew earned straight A's but decided to pursue architecture at the University of Texas instead.

Don and Barbara Tew attended UT together and married at Hyde Park a week before graduation in 1966. They would go on to raise two sons, Todd, a lawyer in Southlake; and Monty, a doctor in Austin, and would later delight in eight grandchildren.

They traveled frequently to Maui, Hawaii, where in September 2001, Barbara Tew noticed her husband's inability to keep up on their beach walks. She chalked it up to age, but Don Tew kept getting weaker. He was diagnosed with the disease last year, but he still managed to travel to the Rose Bowl in January and rooted for his victorious Longhorns from his wheelchair.

Family, friends and clients said Tew, who had his own firm, Tew Associates, distinguished himself as an architect because he was a good listener, someone who sought out the church ministers and schoolteachers who would be using the buildings he designed.

"One of his really strong points is he would design what the client wanted," Barbara Tew said. "It's possible to design stuff to win an award from some architecture group. To him, it was more important what the client wants because the client's the one who's got to use it."

Although Don Tew designed and renovated schools in multiple districts, he had perhaps his largest impact on Leander. Tew began designing elementary and high schools and performing arts centers for the district in the 1990s, creating spaces that were conducive to education, architecturally inspiring and mindful of taxpayers' wallets, said Bill Britcher, communications director.

When it came to churches, Tew also found ways to meet clients' needs.

The Rev. Leland Dandridge, pastor of East Side Baptist Church, a growing African American congregation, said Tew did the architectural renderings for a new church that they're planning to build and refused payment, saying, "Brother Leland, you just keep doing the Lord's work."

Sandi Becker, financial secretary for Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown, said Tew brought his spirituality to his work on the sanctuary in 1989 and educational building in 2000.

That was the calling Smith saw in Tew's work. "There's nobody who has done what he's done in building churches," he said. "It's just unreal what he has done."
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In remembrance: Nyssa man remembered for tenacity


By Kristi Coffman
Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 11/26/06
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Nyssa resident Kalan Morinaka was known by friends and family to be a fearless individual who had a love for life and was a true gentleman.
Morinaka died Nov. 9 at age 22 from complications of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS).

Born Aug. 4, 1984, in Caldwell, Morinaka grew up in Nyssa, Ore., where he excelled in judo, wrestling and football, winning several awards, according to family. "He won every award that our local judo club had to offer," Morinaka's mother Pat recalled.

Morinaka went on to attend Willamette University, in Salem, Ore, where he became president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, often keeping his fraternity brothers out of trouble, according to friends.

"His reputation with the school alone kept us out of trouble," friend and SAE member, Adam Beebe said.

While at Willamette, Morinaka met Rebecca Knight and the two became inseparable, studying together, watching movies and going out for dinner five nights a week, according to Pat.

During Christmas 2005, Morinaka began having trouble with motor skills. After several tests and visits to numerous doctors, he was diagnosed with ALS in June, Pat said.

Morinaka chose to enroll in fall classes for his senior year at Willamette, although his disease had progressed rapidly since June, his mother said. "We told him, ‘any time you are ready to come home, that's fine.'"

Morinaka, who was studying to become a pediatrician, stayed at Willamette until this October with the help of Knight, who took care of him while at school. Though she said it was tough to accept her boyfriend's fatal disease, Knight said Morinaka's strength and courage helped her through.

"He was OK with the fact that he was going to die, so it helped knowing he was OK with what was going to happen," Knight said.

Morinaka's mother agrees that her son's strength was a great help to all who knew him.

"We called him ‘gambaru,' which in Japanese means, when you're faced with a challenge and the odds are overwhelming, you never quit. That's how he faced everything in life, including ALS," Pat said.

In honor of Morinaka, four of his fraternity brothers will ride from San Diego to Miami beginning in January to raise funds and awareness for ALS research. For more information about ALS or the ride, visit coast2coast4kalan.net.

Contact West Treasure Valleynews assistant Kristi Coffman at kcoffman@idahostatesman.comor 672-6742.