Lawrence Stevens Robertson, Jr.

Lawrence “Larry” Stevens Robertson, Jr. was born October 12, 1943 in Manhattan, New York, to Lawrence Stevens Robertson, Sr. and Marian Elinor Robertson (Hillemeir). The second of three children, he spent his childhood in Riverside, CT. He died October 24, 2025 in Washington, D.C. from complications of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Larry loved music, art, dancing, nature, and people. He is remembered by those who love him for his creative spirit, his childlike sense of wonder, his strong convictions, and for his deep love of family.

Larry’s great-grandfather or great-uncle (it's unclear) was the accomplished watercolorist William Sylvester Budworth, and his mother was an avid pianist. While Larry would appreciate art throughout his life, it was as a youth that his lifelong love of music began, as a trombonist, keyboardist, and singer. Larry grew up going to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Riverside, CT, and it is at this time that his fascination with vocal, choral, and organ music began. As a youth he reorchestrated Fauré’s Requiem for full orchestra (including tuba and euphonium!) and adopted an organ that St. Paul’s was discarding. As an adult, Larry loved being a member of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and, later, The Washington Chorus.

Larry was an Eagle Scout, an achievement of which he was proud his entire life. He attended senior high school at Pomfret, graduating in 1961. In addition to excelling as a musician and student at Pomfret, he was, to many people’s surprise, also an accomplished ice hockey player.

It was while at Pomfret that Larry met his first wife, Carol Anne Robertson, who was a student at a similar school for young women. They married in Greenwich, CT in 1963 (later to divorce in 1977). Larry and Carol had no children, though they experienced at least one miscarriage. Larry attended Harvard University, attaining an A.B. (Music) in 1965, and Harvard Graduate School of Education, attaining a MAT in 1966. He taught middle school music for one year in New York State. Following this experience—which he would describe in dreadful terms—he was hired as a computer programmer at IBM, his only qualification being his degrees in music and a now-long-lost newspaper article suggesting that musicians make good programmers. Larry and his first wife, Carol, moved to the D.C. area around this time, residing in Germantown, MD. He would later describe a cat that he and Carol owned that would painfully attach itself to his leg each morning as he walked down the stairs, and a back yard overflowing with tomatoes.

Around the time his marriage to Carol was ending, Larry began taking classes toward his J.D. at George Washington University School of Law. He graduated from GW in 1977 with high honors and the Order of the Coif. He would go on to practice tax law in the D.C. area until approximately 1988.

It was in the mid-1970’s that Larry met his second wife, Bernadette Eichelberger. They wed in 1983 and would later separate and finally divorce in 1996. Larry and Bernadette had one child, Matthew Stevens Robertson, in 1986.

In Isaac Asimov’s novels, the fictional company “U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men” features prominently. In these novels (written mostly in the 1950’s), the fictional “Lawrence Robertson” is referenced as the founder and first president of “U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men.” Upon reading Asimov’s novels, and given his experience in computers and the law, Larry was inspired to found U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men in 1982. It was after the close of his law practice that he returned to computers for a period, working through this company.

Around 1993 Larry quit smoking and drinking. His sobriety would be a source of pride throughout the remainder of his life. It was in the mid-1990's that he left computers (except for a short period in the late 1990’s) and founded Washington Marketing, selling children’s novelty items at special events. Though the work was not very financially rewarding, he found joy in the smiles on the faces of children and their parents. He would continue working in this field until his illness prevented it, in 2024.

An indomitable spirit, Larry lived independently until a hospitalization in October 2024. Even in his final days, he summoned the energy and clarity to blow kisses to his granddaughter, accept hugs, pat hair, and reach out with loving hands.

He is survived by his son, Matthew Stevens Robertson, daughter-in-law, Jacqueline Carmen Robertson and granddaughter, Caroline Carmen Robertson, and ex-wife Bernadette Eichelberger; his sister, Laurie Robertson Lorant and nephew, Chris Lorant; his brother, William “Bill” Robertson, sister-in-law Sally Stites-Robertson, and nephews Jesse Robertson-Dubois and Tevis Robertson-Goldberg. He is predeceased by his parents and his nephew, Mark Lorant.