Services Held for Industry Icon Lorry Bannes
Date Posted: January 2, 2024
Posted In: Organizations, People,
by Tom Finan, Executive Director/Co-Founder, Construction Forum
On Tuesday (Jan. 2nd) memorial services were held for Lorry Bannes, 88, co-founder of the firm that became BSI Constructors and an iconic leader who exponentially elevated technical knowledge and professionalism of our industry. He died Dec. 26th.
BSI Co-Founders Lorry Bannes (left), and Joe Shaughnessy at the firm’s 40th anniversary in January 2013.
Lorry Bannes was a friend of the Finan family and of the industry. I remember him working with my Dad, Tom Finan, Jr., and Virgil Vonder Harr of Vonder Haar Concrete Company to promote concrete construction in general and to pioneer our region’s first tilt up in the ‘70s.
Lorry and my Dad also collaborated to design the first marketing materials for Bannes Shaughnessy, Inc., today known as BSI.
Lorry represented all that was professional, inventive, ethical, and collaborative about our industry. When I was looking for insight for an editorial column or feature for St. Louis Construction News & Review (CNR) I could always count on him.
A South St. Louis native, Lorry graduated from CBC High School, where he excelled in academics and sports — winning a state championship in track in 1953. He went on to Saint Louis University and graduated with honors from the Institute of Technology in 1957 with a degree in Civil Engineering.
After serving in the Air Force he returned to St. Louis, where he joined Gamble Construction and quickly advanced through the ranks to become president at the age of 36. While there he was instrumental in the construction of the Planetarium. In 1971, Lorry was named “Young Engineer of the Year” by the St. Louis Chapter, Missouri Society of Professional Engineers.
A year later with Gamble colleague Joe Shaughnessy, he co-founded Bannes Shaughnessy, Inc., becoming the founding CEO. In 1976 the firm won its first million dollar project at Hazelwood Central Senior High. In 1987 Bannes Shaughnessy built the $10M Washington University Medical Library. In 1989 Joe Shaughnessy purchased the company’s stock and became the sole owner, renaming it BSI Constructors, Inc.
Lorry Bannes began another chapter, building on his love of the construction industry — both its technology and its people. He taught at both Washington University and St. Louis University and served as a consultant to a variety of institutions in our region. He was an accomplished, published author and poet and nature lover. He was a passionate woodworker, and he had a reverence for tools and craftsmanship. He was always exceedingly generous with his time.
“I met Lorry Bannes soon after joining St. Louis Construction News & Review in 1978,” Marie Casey, president and founder of Casey Communications, said. “Lorry became one of my many great teachers in the construction industry. In particular, I learned more about concrete construction from him than any other single person in the industry, as what was then Bannes Shaughnessy, Inc was the first in St. Louis to build tilt-up concrete athletic and office/warehouse space.
“He was such a beautiful blend of teacher and student, engineer and poet, naturalist and builder, always full of wonder and ready to explore,” Casey recalled. “He was the consummate artist/builder. Lorry showed the deepest respect for the St. Louis construction industry’s talented craft workers and built on his father’s handmade carpentry tools collection as a very visible sign of that respect. St. Louis’ construction industry has lost one of its greatest members.”
Lorry was the husband of Debbie Bannes and the late Janet A. Bannes; father of Stephen (Mary Lee) Bannes, Michael (Kathy) Bannes, and the late Rev. Timothy Bannes; grandfather Marc (Meg McGrath) Bannes, Maddie (Jerel) Bobbitt, Matt (fiancée Grace Fussner) Bannes, Nora Bannes, and Hope Bannes; brother of Mary (the late Harold) Hill, Kathy (Ken) Erb, Jane (the late Charlie) Denzel, and Carol (Ed Bronczyk) Schneiderhahn; dear son-in-law of Dottie Milligan, brother-in-law of Tommy (Rita) McLain; and uncle to Chad McLain.
Memorials in Lorry’s memory can be made to one of the following: CBC High School Janet Bannes Memorial Scholarship Fund; Fr. Bob’s Outreach, 1371 Hamilton Avenue, St. Louis MO 63112; or Burkina Faso Outreach, 10045 Lenore Drive, St. Louis MO 63123.