Lawrence Anderson

Pawcatuck - Lawrence Anderson, 95, of Pawcatuck, known locally as a woodcarver, writer, and photographer, died Sept. 26, 2009.

He was predeceased by his wife, Lillian (Peterson) Anderson in 1995 and his son-in-law, Donald Treworgy, who died Sept. 13, 2009.

Lawrence was born Nov. 11, 1913, the last of eight children of the Reverend William Lincoln Anderson and his wife, Carlotta Peremilla (Stevenson) Anderson, who were homesteading on the plains of Montana just south of Wolf Point and the Canadian border.

He is survived by his daughter, Lynn Anderson Treworgy of Noank; his son, Gary Lawrence Anderson and his wife, Ellen; and three grandchildren, Dylan, Elizabeth and Benjamin Anderson of Pawcatuck. He is also survived by his longtime companion, Catherine Fish of Ashaway, R.I.

As a minister's child, Lawrence was brought up in a succession of small, rural towns in the mid-west and mid Atlantic states and attended a one-room schoolhouse in Hinsdale, N.Y. After graduating from Cohn's Radio School in Chicago, Ill., he began his working life installing and repairing radios in Olean, N.Y. Lawrence also studied with Simon Nicholaides and others at the Art Students League in New York City and operated a woodworking shop in Dumont, N.J. During World War II, while in the army, he built receivers and transmitters for the pioneering technology of remote control airplanes.

After the war he attended Pace College and began his newspaper career on the Bergen Evening Record and the Nyack Journal News. He found satisfaction as a real estate broker helping families find homes in Rockland County, N.Y., after the Tappan Zee Bridge was built across the Hudson River. Lawrence took his family cross country to "see America" twice, the second time in 1961 in an Airstream Travel Trailer, which took them to Santa Barbara, Calif., where they settled before returning to the east coast.

In New City, N.Y., he was a founding member of the Rockland Bicycle Club and an active member of the Rockland Photo Workshop. He realized a retirement dream in the 1970s when he followed his daughter to Connecticut and volunteered in the Mystic Seaport photography department and later became the shipcarver at the Seaport. He enjoyed teaching his photography skills to adults at Fitch High School in Groton and Huntington Institute in Norwich. He was proud of his brother Maxwell Anderson's writing ability and enjoyed writing his own poems and stories, which were published as "Stories and Poems by Lawrence Anderson" (1991) and " Recent Rhymes, Revels and Reveries by Lawrence Anderson" (2001). His wood sculpture has been exhibited in area galleries and his wood carving talent can be seen locally on the pediment of the Mystic and Noank Library, the eagle and Liberty cap at the top of the Mystic flagpole and several hand carved, gilded commercial signs in the Mystic area, which he produced with his son, Gary, as "AndersonArtworks" in Noank and Pawcatuck.

Lawrence's family would like to thank the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut, Connecticut Community Care (CCT) and, especially, Mark Benoit for his kindness and care.

The family and close friends will gather privately to celebrate Lawrence's life.

Donations in his honor may be made to the Mystic and Noank Library Book Fund, Library St., Mystic CT 06355.

For more information and to contact the family, please visit www.dinotofuneral.com.

After Oct. 10, 2009, a collection of photographs and biographical information about Lawrence Anderson will be posted at www.GaryAndersonArtworks.com.