Ed Lawson, 73, retired university professor and administrator, died peacefully, November 12, 2006, at home in Chance, MD, after a short battle with Leukemia. He is survived by his wife Kathleen (Kat) Winter and two sons by his first marriage, Rick and Kevin. Rick Lawson lives with his wife, his wife Mary Ann, in Methuen, Massachusetts, and has two grown children from his first marriage: Patricia and Brian. Kevin Lawson lives with his wife, Betsy and young children, Sarah and Timothy in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Ms. Winter has two sons from her first marriage: Terry and Scott. Terry Neumeister and his wife, Kathy, live in Holland, PA, with children: Kristen, Ryan and Katelyn. Scott Neumeister and his wife, Patty, live in Maple Grove, MN, with children: Carolyn and Lauren. Born December 30, 1932, Edward Robert Lawson, Jr., was named after his father and was affectionately called Teddy by his family members throughout his life. He was the first and only son for Elizabeth (Fredrickson) Lawson and brother to the late Natalie L. (Lawson) Miller. His grandparents were George D. and Mary (Robb) Lawson; Charles and Mary (Boland) Fredrickson.
Some early memories from growing up in the swampy northern suburb of Boston included: witnessing the zeppelin “Hindenberg” fly overhead in 1937; the Hurricane of 1938, though unnamed, the most devastating storm to hit the New England coast in the last 100 years; and listening to “The Shadow” on the radio December 7, 1941, with his sister Natalie when it was interrupted by reports of Pearl Harbor.
Mr. Lawson graduated from Andover’s Punchard High School in 1950 and worked for the summer at the Howard Johnson’s in town. He started his college career at Rutgers University in New Jersey and later transferred to Boston University (BU). He interrupted his studies in 1953 to enlist in the Army at Fort Devens, MA, during the Korean conflict. He completed Basic Training at Fort Dix, NJ and was posted to Fort Richardson in Anchorage, AK, where he achieved the rank of Corporal.
After an Honorable Discharge in May, 1955, he returned home to work at the Department of Public Works in Andover and resumed his studies and BU. He earned a B.A. in English in 1958.
He married Rosemary Makie Jones on August 15, 1959 in Proctor, VT. The couple made their home in Chestnut Hill, near Boston College and Mr. Lawson began teaching English at LaSalle Jr. College in Newton.
His father died at the age of 67, six months before the birth of Frederick Scott Lawson on July 21, 1960. The following month, Mr. Lawson earned his M.A. from BU and soon thereafter the growing family moved to Auburndale, MA.
He taught English for one year at Lowell Technical Institute (now University of Massachusetts-Lowell) and then moved to Springvale, ME, to teach as an Assistant Professor of English as Nassau College. Son Kevin Craig Lawson was born on August 26, 1963.
The family moved to East Orange, NJ, in 1965 where Mr. Lawson began what was to become a lifelong career as an academic and administrator at Upsala College. His positions there included: Assistant Professor of English, Director of Academic Counseling, Assistant Dean of College, Director Continuing Education and Director of the Wirth’s Campus in Sussex, NJ.
Toward the end of his career at Upsala, Mr. Lawson was able to teach English for a year in Seoul, Korea, as experience he talked about for the rest of his life. He also served on the board of Directors for the Karen Ann Quinlin Center of Hope Hospice. His mother, Elizabeth, died in June, 1976 and his sister, Natalie, died in 1996, survived by George Miller and their three children: Robert, Edward and Susan.
He married Kathleen Ruth Winter on May 30, 1992, in Hope, NJ. Having retired from Upsala in 1993, Mr. Lawson was able to moved with Ms. Winter as she took teaching positions in Springfield, MO, Morehead, KY and finally Salisbury, MD, where the couple was able to build their own home in Chance, MD, overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.
Mr. Lawson was an avid student of the American Civil War, architecture and bird watching. He always had a life-long passion for the Boston Red Sox and always learning new things. Another love was for travel having ventured to Ireland, France, Scotland, Switzerland as well as many other places. Two memorial observances will be held to celebrated Ed Lawson’s life. The first was Sunday, November 19, in the Salisbury, MD, area, where Ed and Kat have made their home for the past several years and the second will be November 25 in Andover, MA, where Mr. Lawson was born and raised. Friends and family are invited to join Ed’s family at the Burke-Magliozzi Funeral Home, 390 North Main Street, Andover, Saturday, November 25, at 11 AM, followed by a burial at Spring Grove Cemetery in Andover at noon.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in the name of Edward Lawson to: Coastal Hospice and Home Health Agency, PO Box 1733, Salisbury, MD 21802.