Obituary of Barbara Louise Lawrence

Barbara Louise Lawrence

Barbara Louise Lawrence, age 93, passed away peacefully in her sleep at Brookdale Senior Living on March 6, 2024.

Barbara was born December 22, 1930 in Omaha Nebraska to Lawrence Chevoit Fenton and Dorothy Louise Reed. She is predeceased by her parents, her brother John (Jack) Wesley Fenton and her younger sister Deanna Lee Currie. She is survived by her two younger brothers Clifford and Ronald Chamberlin.

Barbara married Dean Lawrence on July 15, 1951. She leaves behind her three children: Cheryl and her husband John Schmit of Covington, WA, her son Daryl and wife Jan Lawrence of Mt. Vernon, TX, and her son Douglas and his wife Joni Lawrence of Apalachicola, Fl, eight grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Barbara graduated from Blair High School in May of 1949. In 1950 she met Dean Lawrence and married in 1951. Dean was in the United States Air Force and posted to RAF Manston in Kent County, England in 1952. Families were allowed to join the servicemen and Barbara was off to England. She described her time there as one of her happiest memories. This started a life-long love of travel. After they returned to the US, they moved to southern California. Over the years she took many road-trips throughout the US and vacationed in Mexico and Canada. A special vacation was a return trip to England when she was 73 where she visited many of the places of her young married life from 50 years earlier.

Throughout her life, Barbara worked in various office positions. She loved working and the camaraderie with the people she interacted with.

After Barbara retired in 2002, she moved to Mt Vernon, TX. She enjoyed traveling around the state with all the new places to see. She moved to Kent, WA in 2010, where she went on many day trips. In 2018, she became quite ill, and moved into assisted living. At the end of 2023 she was placed on hospice to help with her many health issues.

Her death was somewhat a surprise as she had such a strong will to live. Barbara had a positive attitude and was sure she had many more years ahead.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to your local Parkinson’s research, or to the Parkingson’s Foundation https://www.parkinson.org.

A memorial service is planned for April 30, 2024, at 2:30 PM at the Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn, WA. The address is: 2020 Mountain View Dr, Auburn, WA 98001.