William Conrad Lawson

Stoneville: William Conrad Lawson, age 91, died Friday, January 7, 2011, at Morehead Hospital in Eden, North Carolina. A Graveside service will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, January 10, 2011 at Roselawn Memorial Gardens. Mr. Lawson was not related to the Lawson families of the Rockingham and Stokes County area; his grandparents were Lofstroms from Sweden. Born in New York City in 1919, Mr. Lawson suffered the deaths of both of his parents in the early 1930's and was sent to St. Agatha's Home for Children with his four siblings. When he was sixteen years old, the home released him from their care, and he supported himself from that point until the end of his days. At first, he worked odd jobs and went to high school at night, finally getting a diploma in 1943 at age 24. He then went into the Navy to serve his country during World War II. His closest brush with combat occurred when his special transportable radar and crew were to land in Kure, Japan, as about the fifth wave of Marines. The landing never occurred because the atom bomb ended the war. After World War II, he returned to work but decided to use the Veterans' Bill of Rights to get a college education. He graduated from Oklahoma State University (then Oklahoma A & M) with a BSEE degree in 1950. When the Korean War began, he took a job as a Navy Tech Rep to give back all of his knowledge of Navy radar. In 1955, Mr. Lawson moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and met Elizabeth Puckett of Wentworth, North Carolina, whom he eventually married. In 1974, he retired as a Senior Engineer with Western Electric after working on satellite ground stations, ballistic missiles, and other electronic equipment. He and Elizabeth built a home in Vero Beach, Florida, and enjoyed many years of retirement there. Then they returned to Rockingham County and built a home in Deep Springs. They did not have children. Mr. Lawson is predeceased by his parents, his four siblings, and his wife Elizabeth who died in 1998. He is survived by his cousins and his nephews: Mr. Stephen DiGeanaro, his wife Denise, and their family of Mastic Beach, New York, and Mr. William Tandolf of Vero Cruz, Mexico. He is also mourned by his wife's family: Mrs. Virginia Puckett (Bill) Purgason Motley Richardson and her family; the family of Mrs. Sallie Puckett (Russell) Rakestraw, the family of Mrs. Elaine Puckett (David) Sharp, Mr. L. A. Puckett, Jr., his wife Margie, and their family; Mrs. Ruth Puckett (Holton) McCollum and her family, Mrs. Joyce (Richard) Puckett and her family, Mrs. Polly Puckett (Bill) Blankenbaker and her family, Mr. Alfred Puckett, his wife Sandra, and their family, Mrs. Hazel (Donald) Puckett and her family, and Mr. Lloyd Puckett and his family. His favorite charities were the American Cancer Society and Hospice of Rockingham County, North Carolina.