Mr. Paul Beaumont Lawrence

In Memory of Paul B. Lawrence
by
Cynthia L. Stellmack
My father passed away quietly Monday February 24, 2014 after a short and quick decline. He was 87, lived a good and full life and outlived three wives.
Dad grew up in New York, was a sharp cookie even back then and skipped a grade. He graduated from Tufts University in 1947 with a degree in Electrical Engineering when he was 20. He started his career with General Electric (generous electric as he would tell me) and finally retired from GE in 1992 after many years as a power systems engineer traveling the state of Florida calling on electrical consultants and contractors. He then hung out his shingle and did the same type of work doing power systems studies as a consulting engineer until 2011.
He joined the armed forces V-12 program while in high school and began a long love with the Navy and submarine service, being called to active duty during the Korean War and later being a weekend warrior with the reserves, retiring with the rank of Captain.
Being a professional engineer (P.E.) and Navy captain was a big part of who he was and what he accomplished in his life. He worked on many power projects including the lighting in the Vehicle Assembly Building, street lighting for the City of Titusville, EPCOT, the Orlando Convention Center, and many hospitals. One of his last active duty tours with the Navy Reserves had him in Naples, Italy for two weeks which he has fond memories of and may have inspired his many future travels.
His enthusiasm for his work inspired me, and I followed in his footsteps and became an electrical engineer with an emphasis on power systems, just like dad. Although he couldn’t get me go to Tufts in chilly Boston, I became a Clemson Tiger instead. Dad adopted my Clemson enthusiasm and one of my fondest memories was going to the 1981 Orange Bowl with dad and seeing Clemson become the national football champs when they beat Nebraska.
Dad taught Sunday school for many years and was very active in his church. His last wishes were there are to be no funeral or memorial services, but I hope you all remember him fondly as I do and know as in Romans 8: 38, 39: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I am still Daddy’s little girl.