Louis Lyons, Hermiston Photographer
Albert “Louis” Lyons, 1916-1990
From the Heppner Gazette Times, Sept. 2, 1987
When Louis Lyons, 70, Hermiston, retires at the end of this month, he will take many memories of Heppner and of Hermiston with him to his new home in Hawaii.
The Hermiston Chamber of Commerce is hosting a reception in honor of Lyons’s retirement Sept. 10 at the Hermiston City Park.
Many of Lyon’s memories are on film. Most will recognize his work, but even those who don’t may recall his diminutive presence behind a box camera at many major events in the area.
He has resisted change to the 35mm camera, staunchly touting the superiority of the 3×5 box typical of equipment used by commercial and news photographers during the 1940s.
The box camera takes better pictures, he said. Because it uses bigger film, it makes better enlargements. Many changes to the 35mm camera have improved the quality of its pictures, he admits, and confesses to buying one to take scenic photos when he and his wife were on vacation six years ago. The camera was stolen during their vacation, but he recently replaced it because of its convenience for scenic shooting.
Lyons grew up in Portland and graduated from Benson Tech in 1937. He studied photography at the New York Institute of Photography and returned to Portland in 1941. He held photography jobs in Corvallis, Salem, and Vancouver, Wash., before moving to Heppner.
He owned and operated the Heppner photo studio from 1947, and moonlighted taking news photos for the Gazette Times, then owned by Otheo Crawford.
After he moved his studio to Hermiston, he continued shooting news photos, but for the Hermiston Herald. When the Herald switched to offset printing, others began taking photos for the paper as well.
Lyons and his wife Lillian have 10 children, 16 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. “Some of the family thought we were trying to run away from them when we first told them we were moving to Hawaii” he said. “Now most of them like the idea and are planning to come visit us.”
Lyons has built a reputation for taking quality photos whether in his studio or on location. He likes shooting commercial pictures of buildings. He did an eight-year series on the construction of the Carty Coal Plant near Boardman. His files also include many animal and rodeo pictures.
For many years he was the only commercial photographer in the area. He plans to turn some of his photos of the Heppner area over to the museum here.
A charter member of the Professional Photographers of Oregon, he was honored with a plaque at a convention in Baker. “Not that I know of yet” was his cagey answer to the query will anyone in the area be able to take photos as good as yours after you retire.
He described the retirement he is looking forward to as taking photos for a studio in Hawaii, only part time of course.
Lillian Lyons obituary
HERMISTON Lillian Marie Lyons died Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007 at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston at the age of 90. She was born Oct. 1, 1917 at Brockton, Mass., to Jacob O. and Sarah J. (Fields) Tingley. Lillian was raised in Massachusetts and attended business college. On Sept. 13, 1942 she married Albert “Louis” Lyons at Vancouver, Wash. They moved to Heppner in 1947 and then to Hermiston in 1950. They owned and operated Lyons Studio (photography studio) until 1987. Lillian worked as a portrait painter and receptionist at the studio. Louis Lyons died in 1990. Lillian enjoyed playing bingo, traveling by Greyhound Bus, and train trips to the East Coast. She is survived by her children, Nancy Sharp of Robinsville, Miss., Judy Oeder of Kennewick, Wash., Albert Louis Lyons Jr. of Italy, Jamie Blanchett of Seaside, Linda Kindred of Albany, Shirley Beebe of Springfield, Larry Lyons of Hermiston, and Leslie Lyons of Vancouver, Wash.; sisters, Arlene Jacobson of Mashpea, Mass., Mariam Metta of Summersville, N.H., and Marjorie Moore of St. Petersburg, Fla.; 24 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert Louis Lyons Sr. in 1990; daughter, Kathleen in 1997; son, John Lyons in 2002; brother, Lawrence Tingley; and sister, Dorothy “Dot” Bedore.
