Spotlight: Nesquehoning artist saw the beauty of life through his mind’s eye

To love life, you have to live life.

John Koomar spent nearly every day of his 103 years doing what he loved to do.

Koomar died on March 9 at Maple Shade Meadows in Nesquehoning where he lived the last six years of his life. From his youth until the end of his days, he enjoyed creating art. Whether it was with his pencil, his brush or his camera, he followed his passion into becoming a self-made man.

The dream becomes real

As one of three boys with eight sisters, Koomar lived with his parents in Nesquehoning tending the chickens and backyard gardens. His father was an entrepreneur who was a butcher for several years before he owned the Nesquehoning Savings Bank that today is now the Jim Thorpe National Bank.

“John wanted to become a priest,” said Anne Reese, his niece. “I believe his very Catholic mother talked him out of it possibly because she was aware of his affection for art.”

John played football at Nesquehoning High School and loved taking the train with his father to New York to watch the Yankees.

“After graduating high school in 1933, he enrolled as a student in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,” said his nephew, Jim Reese. “There he earned a scholarship that paid for a trip across the country.”

Koomar and three friends bought a Model T Ford for $400 and set out on a trip that would take them all the way to the California coast and into Mexico to watch the bullfights. Throughout the trek that took them a year, Koomar shot black-and-white photographs of people and landscapes. It was then that he realized that his observing eye would be the foundation for a career as an artist.

Looking at life his way

After a term in the Army during World War II, Koomar came home and began sketch drawings of streets in Nesquehoning and Coaldale.

“At first glance, his sketches weren’t compelling,” said Jim, “but then you realized that what you were looking at was John’s interpretation of the natural scenes.”

Anne explained further.

“When you look at John’s rural landscapes of Carbon County which included areas of Lake Hauto, and his urban landscapes from Philadelphia, you can see that he had very strong feelings about the two places he had lived.”

Jim explained that his uncle had been influenced by French Impressionist artists such as Monet and Renoir of the late 1800s.

“The Impressionists changed the way we view the world,” Jim said. “They used muted colors to depict dreamscapes of nature and land.”

Koomar’s portfolio, which currently holds a plethora of photographic images, sketches and paintings, would land him post-Depression jobs as a freelance illustrator. He created book covers and catalogs, and one of his clients was the popular Spencer’s Gifts store. This is how he made his living for the rest of his working days.

“John was also an avid reader, especially of magazines where he would cut out ideas he liked,” said Anne, who holds a master’s degree in art from NYU. “His oil and acrylic paintings showed a vibrancy and a freshness in his use of color.”

‘A Renaissance man’

Koomar, who never married, lived most of his adult life in Philadelphia. On weekends, he would travel back to Nesquehoning to see family and friends. He continued to draw, and he also created several oil paintings, some of which were displayed and sold at Jumbar’s bistro in Bethlehem.

He expanded his love for art into sharing his knowledge with others. He became an instructor at the Academy of Fine Arts.

“He was truly a Renaissance man,” Jim said. “He carried a camera wherever he went. He was an eclectic collector of music. He had records of the big bands, opera singers and American folk music. John owned reel-to-reel recordings of all kinds of music.

“He stayed in Philly until 2011, and when dementia began to set in, he came back to Nesquehoning to live at Maple Shade Meadows.”

When Anne reminisced about a lunch date she had with her uncle at Maple Shade last fall, she recalled that he was “always the gentleman.”

With his dementia getting worse, he offered to pay for our lunch,” she said with a laugh. “Then when we walked back to his apartment, he walked behind me like a gentleman would.

“I had the best childhood a girl could ever have,” she added, “and John was a big part of it.”

“He was a quiet man who liked his daily glass of wine,” Jim said. “Rarely would he begin a conversation, but his work did the speaking for him. He lived a self-actualized life.”

During his uncle’s final days, Jim spent an afternoon sitting outside with him.

“John looked at the sky above and said, ‘Isn’t that the bluest sky you ever saw?’ He was always so very observant.”

After another pause of reflection, Jim offered a final comment.

“John just knew how to be. He enjoyed his whole life just by being present.”