Lawrence Addison "Mac" McRae

McRae, Lawrence Addison
Oct. 10, 1916 - Dec. 19, 2009

Lawrence Addison McRae, 93, of Englewood, Fla., died Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, in Temple Terrace, Fla. He was preceded in death two years ago by his wife, Irene Anger McRae, the daughter of one of the pioneer families (Anger/Ainger) of Englewood.
Lawrence, better known as "Mac," was born Oct. 10, 1916, in Arcadia, Fla. to Pearl Addison McRae and Charles Marshall McRae. He had one brother, William, and one sister, Muriel, both deceased.
In the 1930s, for those who lived in Arcadia, Englewood and Boca Grande were popular places to come to enjoy the beaches and the fishing. Both Mac and his sister, Muriel, met their respective spouses during this period prior to World War II, and both eventually settled permanently in Englewood. (Muriel was the wife of Lorin (L.A.) Ainger, for whom the Englewood Junior High School is named, and the mother of Esther Ainger Horton of Englewood.)
Mac graduated from Arcadia High School in 1935 and later served as a civil servant in the administrative staff at Carlson Field in Arcadia, a newly opened U.S. Air Force Base. In 1942, he married Irene Anger, and in 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force, attending officer's candidate school in Miami Beach.
As a veteran of World War II, he was a captain serving in the administrative staff and was transferred to the Pacific Theater, where he was stationed first in the Philippines and later in New Guinea. After World War II, he returned to Englewood, where he and Irene built and managed several successful businesses including the McRae Insurance Agency and M&H Storage.
Active in the community of Englewood, he was a founding member of the Englewood Volunteer Fire Department, the Englewood Rotary club, the American Legion's Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Englewood Elks Club. He was a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Shriners organization.
Lawrence is survived by his daughter, Linda McRae of Temple Terrace, and his grandson, John Walther of Santa Cruz, Calif.