John Fawcett, business owner who inspired others, dies at 82
John Fawcett’s awkward gait, the result of cerebral palsy, made the
But it was the ever-present smile on Fawcett’s face, the infectious laugh that overtook his body and a steely determination that defined him to his friends. In many ways, the small man with an obvious disability was larger than life in the way he motivated others to be stronger and better.
“He was a common man who lived an inspirational life,” Zentner said.
Fawcett, who operated an insurance business, died of pneumonia on
Despite more than 50 surgeries, he lived with a lifetime of pain. But he’d made peace with his disabilities.
“Everything physically that you and I take for granted was so much harder for him,” Zentner said. “He was motivated to be as close to normal as any human being.”
That started with his parents, who rejected a doctor’s suggestion that their newborn son be sent to live in an institution.
“They said, ‘He’s going to live a normal life,’ and by God he did,” said
When Fryberger’s father helped start a neighborhood hockey club, Fawcett was anointed goalie. “He was part of the neighborhood, so why wouldn’t he be part of the team?” Fryberger said. Defense player Russ Ingersoll’s job was to stand Fawcett back up when he fell down, Fryberger recalled.
At school,
“I carried him every day -- in my arms like a bride across a threshold,” Podgorski said. “ I remember him saying, ‘Go faster, faster.’?”
Often it was a community of friends who made sure that Fawcett had the opportunity to do the things they did, whether it was hunting for deer or ducks or fishing for walleye. To fly fish on the
His friends also included him in pranks, like when they stuffed a deer they’d shot into the front seat of his VW Beetle -- its hoofs on the dash -- because it wouldn’t fit on the roof of the small car.
“Humor helped him get through life,” Podgorski said.
Amid the laughs was a man who wanted to give back, which is why he offered himself for show-and-tell at Duluth’s
Remembering the fear he felt before his many surgeries as a child, Fawcett would stand knock-kneed before parents and children to help ease their fears about upcoming surgeries. “?‘Look at me; I’m doing OK,’ he would tell them,” Podgorski recalled.
“He instilled a sense of power in you,” said Fawcett’s son, Jason, of
Besides his son, Jason of
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