Obituary of Earl V. Lawrence

Earl V. Lawrence, 89, of Bossier City, Louisiana, passed away suddenly Sunday, March 20, 2016, at the Colonial Oaks Rehabilitation Center. He was born December 20, 1926, in New Orleans, Louisiana the son of Blanchard Lawrence and Theresa (Lauchbaum) Rixner. He married his wife of 64 years, Audrey Lucile Arnold, on January 7, 1952 in Whiting, Jackson, Kansas. He is survived by his wife and five children, Barbara (John) McCaskill of Ft Worth, Texas, Robert Lawrence of Arcadia, California, Chyrl (Edward) Bulger of Bossier City, David Lawrence of Brusly, Louisiana and Larry Lawrence of Bossier City, Louisiana; two grandchildren, Kedar Lawrence of San Francisco, California, and Chandra (Brandon) Fox; and one great granddaughter Olivia Fox and a brother in law Loren G. (Vivian) Arnold. Also surviving are several nieces and nephews. Mr. Lawrence spent his career in the military, joining the US Navy on December 21, 1943 during WWII assigned to the USS Bottineau APA 235. On July 1, 1946 he went to Bikini Island to witness the A Bomb test. He was discharged on October 22, 1947. He then enlisted on May 11, 1948 in the US Air Force. He served State side during the Korean War. In October 1966 he was sent to Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam where he served with the 14th Aerial Port Squadron. He retired from the Air Force on February 1, 1973 after serving almost 25 years. He is preceded in death by his parents, a sister Grace (Lauchbaum) Holmes, a brother Alton Rixner and a nephew Kenneth D. Arnold. Graveside services, with full Military Honors, will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at Northwest Louisiana Veteran's Cemetery, 7970 Mike Clark Road, Keithville, LA 71047. Memorial contributions in Earl's name may be directed to the National Parkinson's Foundation, Northwest Louisiana Special Olympics or Friends of Bossier City Animal Control, Bossier City, Louisiana.