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Howard Aubrey Lawrence '31

Jun. 9, 1909-Oct. 27, 2004

Howard Aubrey Lawrence ’31, a longtime corporate attorney and lifelong Swedenborgian who served as a trustee of the Swedenborg Foundation, was born on June 9, 1909, in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were Howard E., a buyer, and Jennie Seekamp Lawrence. “Howie” Lawrence grew up in Brooklyn, prepared for college at Erasmus Hall High School, and entered Hamilton in 1927. He joined ELS, participated in interclass and interfraternity athletics, and became a member of the Musical Arts Society. In his sophomore year he helped cover his college expenses by serving as a Chapel bell ringer.

Following his graduation with honors in history in 1931, Howard Lawrence returned to New York City and enrolled in Fordham University Law School, where he earned his LL.B. degree in 1934. While associated with a law firm in the city, he took evening courses at St. John’s University Law School and acquired a doctorate in juridical science in 1938. Three years later, he left private practice to become an attorney for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Co., a position he held until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. Commissioned as an officer, he served in Iceland and Hawaii, and as a military government officer on Eniwetok in the Pacific at the end of World War II.

Released from the Navy as a lieutenant in 1946, Howard Lawrence joined the legal staff of General Electric Co. He was subsequently employed in the law department of Remington Rand Corp. (later Sperry-Rand) in Manhattan until his retirement in 1969. In the years thereafter he and his wife, the former Frances I. Osborne, whom he had wed in 1951, divided the year between South Yarmouth on Cape Cod and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. They later took up full-time residence in Venice, FL, where Howard continued to swim and play tennis well into advanced age. He also continued his activities in connection with the Swedenborgian church.

In 2000, after 17 years in Venice, the Lawrences moved to Dahlonega in the North Georgia mountains, to be near their adopted daughter and her family. There, Howard A. Lawrence, an ardently loyal alumnus who always retained a lively interest in the College, died on October 27, 2004, at the age of 95. Predeceased by his wife in 2001, he is survived by their daughter, Kathie Lawrence, and three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Necrology Home

Note: Memorial biographies published prior to 2004 will not appear on this list.



Necrology Writer and Contact:
Christopher Wilkinson '68
Email: Chris.Wilkinson@mail.wvu.edu

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