Laurens Sartoris

SARTORIS, Laurens, departed this life on October 31, 2023, at the age of 78.

His grandchildren called him Rah-Rah. Almost everyone else, both young and old, knew him as Larry. He described himself as a walking compendium of useless trivia. Many agreed. Others saw him as a modest man who had much about which to be modest. He saw humor in all the absurdities and paradoxes of life. At the end of his working career, he believed that in both everyday life and work, there are important rules: always take the job more seriously than yourself; when others are involved, it's the team that makes the difference; maintaining realistic perspective in all things should include humor wherever possible, especially self-effacing humor. He was fortunate to have loving responsible parents, Paul and Esther Love, who wanted the best for him, as had their parents and their grandparents.

Larry is survived by Faith (aka Gammy), his wife of 49 years; two successful and accomplished children, Elizabeth Laurens Sartoris and Andrew Hillhouse Sartoris (Stacy); and two grandchildren, James and Anna. He knew that no life or family is complete without a really good dog, currently Lola. And he wanted more than anything to watch his grandchildren grow up.

Larry attended the College of William and Mary, continuing on to the University of Richmond Law School. His 44-year full-time working career included two jobs, Counsel for Virginia in the General Assembly, then 37 years with the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, serving as its president for 27 years. He flunked retirement.

While serving on a variety of volunteer and business boards, Larry believed the most consequential were Virginia Blood Services, Bath Community Hospital, and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. He relished American exceptionalism and being an American.

Larry considered the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley to be the most beautiful places on earth. As he simplified his later life, he narrowed his tastes to the really good stuff, such as authentic Southern cooking like his grandmother's. He believed that Southern manners and civility are essential to a balanced and constructive society.

He irrationally liked things French: food, language, culture, architecture, countryside, and even the delightfully zany though somewhat sardonic French people. Perhaps the most memorable day of his life was on the Ile de la Cité in Paris where he was mistaken for a real French person, BY a real French person. He could speak French beautifully. His best speaking and writing in English was as a polemicist (look it up!), but he couldn't spell worth a darn in any language.

His greatest surprise honor was the establishment of the Laurens Sartoris Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship at the time of his retirement. The scholarship allows people who need financial assistance and show high academic merit the financial means to become associate degree nurses in the Virginia Community College System.

At the time of his death, he was a member of the Board of Bath Community Hospital, the Richmond Kiwanis Club, St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church in Goochland, the Boykin Spaniel Society, and The Huguenot Society of South Carolina.

A memorial service will be on Friday, November 17, at 2 p.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 12291 River Road, Richmond Va. 23238.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the Laurens Sartoris Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship (VFCCE, ATTN: Laurens Sartoris Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship, 300 Arboretum Place, Suite 200, RV 23236) or to the Boykin Spaniel Society (P.O. Box 2047, Camden, S.C. 29020).