Lynn Woodbury was on my list to interview for a long time for this series on AIA Utah Legends. He was active for decades in the industry and in the development sector, which is an unusual path for a licensed architect. He was an inspiration to many who admired his facility to be productive and creative after a life-altering injury. We talked and set up times for the interview, but time just got the better of us, and Lynn passed away on March 27, 2023. Lynn Woodbury was born on June 24, 1952, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Wallace Richards Woodbury and Beverley Clair Beesley. Lynn spent his youth golfing, creating mischief with “the boys” (lifelong friends), and he was an East High champion swimmer. Lynn joined the family firm — the Woodbury Corporation — first when he was in high school as a drafter. Woodbury is a development and management business that has thrived for over 100 years. The firm has a diverse portfolio that includes retail, office, hotel, multi-family housing, senior living, student housing and mixed-use projects. Following a year working in the National Guard and a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico City, Mexico, Lynn pursued his business degree and Master of Architecture at the University of Utah. He continued working with Woodbury during his college years and grew to play a critical role in the business, leading the design and construction division. I talked with Lynn’s brothers, Jeff and Rick Woodbury, who worked with him in the business, about his career, his talents, his dedication and his legacy. When did Lynn decide to become an architect? Jeff: He got his drafting table when we split rooms in 1962; he was very young. He was always drawing house plans, swimming pools, site plans and layouts of buildings … he had all kinds of ideas about how he would do things. He moved into what was called the Pine Room, and my father bought him a drawing desk, got him a T square and rulers and different stencils, etc. to help him with his drawing. Rick: I recall that he made his definite decision when he was 13 years old. I was two years older than he was. We were goofing around, and he was drawing up something and he said something like, “You know, Rick, I really want to become an architect.” I said, “Great, you do the architecture and engineering, I’ll do the law and business. Then we’ll do real estate.” That day in 1965, I think Lynn and I decided we’d go into business together. What about his training? Jeff: Lynn acted as a draftsman parttime from high school on, drawing out space plans and things like that. My father worked really closely with architects in-house on various buildings. We had an in-house architect by the name of Ben Grajalva. Lynn started working with the architect to help get our father’s ideas on paper. Rick: Lynn asked my father if he could do some of that, and my father went to Ben and Ben was fine with it. Jeff: Ben would give him little assignments. In the real estate business, you get a piece of land, or you get a building, and you pencil the concept. Then you give it to the architects to draw that up. We were all exposed to that type of activity from a really young age. Lynn was just more proficient at it than the rest of us and, in many ways, was a lot more thoughtful in the detail of his work. Rick: He also did leasing and a lot of other things, not just architecture. He was an assistant to my father; he got a lot of business background. He told me in architectural school the criticism that his professors had of him was that he had to release his creativity, that he was too practical. His answer to his professors was, “Look, I’m trying to design projects that I know what will be built, so many of these other guys just design things that could never happen.” The professor said, “That’s fine, but you need to not worry so much about what can be built.” He got that idea working in the family business during high school and college, even before he got started working on an architectural degree. However, I think he did learn to use his creativity. Jeff: The original concepts of our office were done when he was in architecture school. My father felt the concept designs were not great concepts — but over time, my father became converted. Ultimately, what we built is what Lynn designed, with some modifications. Rick: When he got his architectural degree at the University of Utah then the question was, “Where does he apprentice?” In those days, you had to work a certain number of years under an architect in order to qualify to get your license. Ben was gone by then, but Dad and I hired Rich Dames and Vern Bush and absorbed that little firm with the understanding that they would do Woodbury projects, but also, that they would teach Lynn and he could apprentice under them. It might have 13
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