Jim Lawson passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at Rochester General Hospital. Jim was born in the hills of West Virgina to Ruby (Byrd) and James F. Lawson. As a young child he came to Central NY to live with his mother and stepfather. He graduated from Clyde Central School. The majority of his working career was spent at Mobil Chemical (Huntsman, Berry) at the Macedon plant where his last position was as a shift supervisor in Design Products. In retirement he enjoyed working at Charley’s Steakery at Eastview Mall.

He is survived by his loving wife Brenda (Buttaccio) Lawson. His sisters, Nancy (the late Bill) Howk and Odessa (Robert) Walker; his brother, Warren (Deborah) Leisenring, Jr.; brother-in-law, Paul Marszalkowski; his son, Steven (Amy) Lawson; his former son-in-law, Dan (Doris) Whitt; grandchildren, Joshua, Jason, Cassandra, and Zachory; a great granddaughter, Maybelle; brother-in-law, Ed (Maria) Buttaccio; nephew, Chase (Santali) Buttaccio; niece, Juliana (Josh) Hixenbaugh; much-loved grandnephew, Brayden, who could always make him smile; several other nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews; his dearest friends, Joe Hoock, Dustin White, Vicki Bruen, Sheila Lyke, Kay and Kirk Graham; and loving cousins from the Buttaccio side of the family. 

Jim was predeceased by his father, mother, stepfather, sister Jeanette Marszalkowski, beloved daughter Teresa Whitt, and infant son, Dennis.

Jim greatly enjoyed baseball and many other sports throughout his life, but his passion was the New York Yankees. He was fortunate to have traveled to see them play in person and these were some of the highlights of his life. He religiously watched every game on TV. Jim was proud to have been a past president of the Clyde-Savannah Vince Lombardi Youth Football League. He enjoyed his weekly bowling team, hopping on his John Deere tractor to mow the lawn, walking daily until he could not do it anymore, watching sports of all kinds on TV along with his music videos and favorite crime dramas. In his later years his favorite thing was to play the lottery and doing scratch off tickets like it was his job!

The family would like to thank the wonderful, kind, compassionate caregivers at RGH in the ER Pod A and MedICU who helped Jim in his transition from this world to the next. You were all amazing.

At Jim’s request there will be no calling hours or services. If you care to make a donation we would like to ask you to consider the Pluta Cancer Center Foundation: https://plutacancerfoundation.org/donate/ or checks made out to Pluta Cancer Foundation, 125 Red Creek Drive - Suite 205 B, Rochester, NY 14623 or to donate to your local youth sports league in Jim’s memory. 

Thank you, my love, for walking this road by my side for over 33 years.

To share a special memory or condolence, please visit Jim's guestbook at www.murphyfuneralservices.com.