Robert Newell Avery Jr.

ROBERT N. AVERY, JR.  SWOOPE, VA… Robert Newell Avery Jr. died on June 19, 2017 at his home in Swoope, VA. Born in Evanston, Illinois, on May 22, 1940, Bob was a man of many talents: an artist, a Jazz DJ, an actor and producer in films and on stage, a restaurant and gallery owner, and an arts administrator. He was an illustrator and sculptor who was the director of the Mendocino Art Center in California and the Staunton Augusta Art Center in Virginia. His Avery Studio Gallery was in the space that is now Zynadoa Restaurant. Robert was a member of the California National Guard in the 1950s and 60s. He graduated from California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts) in Oakland, CA. He owned the Wildlife Gallery and the Ug Restaurant in Mendocino, CA. He met his wife, Amanda, when they were cast as brother and sister in a production of Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’. They moved to Virginia with their daughter Melinda in 1993. As well as his wife, Amanda, and daughter, Melinda, Robert is survived by his son Robert Walter Avery, a veterinarian in Grass Valley, CA, and daughter-in-law Inger, grandson Fritz, and granddaughter Brita. He also leaves a sister, Margot Avery of Sausalito and Martinez, CA. He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Newell Avery and Margaret Avery McCloud, and his first wife, Karen Lissoll Black. Robert was a member of Staunton’s First Presbyterian Church, the Staunton Kiwanis Club, and Virginia Master Gardeners. He was an inveterate collector, particularly of model trains and wind-up toys. Memorial contributions may be made to either the Staunton Augusta Art Center or the Mendocino Art Center. A memorial service will be conducted by the Reverend Karen Allamon at First Presbyterian Church in Staunton at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 8, 2017.  Henry Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.