In Memoriam

Lenna Tyler Kast (1930 - 2023)

It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts we convey the passing of a touchstone of our company, Lenna Tyler Kast. Lenna went peacefully in her sleep on Sunday evening January 22nd after enduring several years of declining health. It is some consolation to all of us here she is finally at peace now.

Lenna’s passion and talent for her work seemed boundless and was only rivaled by her kindness and grace in sharing those gifts with others. In the early days of the company when Lenna would hold training workshops with her son Rob, her ebullience and joy in introducing the craft of design and ornament were immediately evident to all who attended, as well as immediately contagious; many of the students becoming Lenna’s lifelong friends. To this end, Lenna was a brilliant and much treasured mentor.

Lenna purchased the JP Weaver company in the late 70s with the full extent of her savings in the hopes of re-inventing a heretofore legacy business. Broken molds, fragments of plaster models and dull rusted tools made up the inventory of the small business in the tiny dusty shop in Los Angeles; and most would have told her, as some did, that the idea was disastrous and sure to fail. Lenna always had a stock answer for these naysayers: “I’m shy to place a bet… unless it’s on me.”

As business grew, so did the list of clients wanting to work not only with ornament, but specifically with Lenna. Our lead designer Stephanie Croce met Lenna in the early 80s and the two bonded a friendship and passion through the countless projects they created together. It was one of those uncommon relationships that feed each other through inspiration and collaboration of ideas.

Soon thereafter Lenna’s step-son Adam lent his hand as a master carpenter and mold-maker, serving as lead craftsman for the more practical areas of installation and application. In bringing his abilities and ideas of bridging the gap between design and actual construction, a team was forged; one that Lenna appreciated and enjoyed beyond measure. In a short time Lenna made her son Rob, Stephanie and Adam co-owners of JP Weaver; which became in every sense, a family business.

Through the decades, Lenna nurtured her business by authoring the venerable “Ornament in Design” along with the “Petitsin Design Handbooks”, compendiums that have become a vanguard reference for designers worldwide . In addition to creating a vast catalog of exquisite ornamental mouldings and designs that are sure to live on so many, many years to come. All of us here at JP Weaver could not help but be inspired by Lenna’s work ethic, spirit and generosity. In her last days, her son Rob would often hear her say, “I took nothing, and made it something.” It is a rare thing for someone to find the exact calling for the work that will fulfill their lives. Lenna was so very fortunate and blessed to have found hers.