Samuel A. Lawrence

Lawrence

Samuel A. Lawrence

September 20, 1928 â€" November 3, 2023

Samuel A. "Sam" Lawrence, 95, of Chevy Chase, MD passed away peacefully on November 3, 2023 in Scarborough, ME. Husband to his beloved wife, Mary Miller Lawrence (2017), devoted father, grandfather, Uncle Sam, and loyal friend to many, Sam is fondly remembered for his integrity, humility, and adventurous spirit.

Sam was born September 20, 1928 in Providence, RI to Right Reverend, William Appleton Lawrence and Hannah Cobb Lawrence. His family moved to Springfield, MA when his father became Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts. He attended high school at Deerfield Academy, earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, and Master's and PhD in Public Administration from American University.

Upon returning from service as an Army Sargent in the Korean War, Sam launched his career with the Bureau of the Budget as Senior Examiner for Independent Regulatory Agencies in Washington, DC. He was later appointed Executive Director of President Johnson's Commission on Merchant Marine Science, Engineering, and Resources. The Commission's report, "Our Nation at Sea, A Plan for National Action" (1969) laid the groundwork for the establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), authorized by President Nixon in 1970.

Sam moved on to university administration to become Cornell University's Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration, relocating his young family to Ithaca, NY. For the ensuing ten years, Sam managed university finances while keeping tuition in check. He returned to Washington, DC in 1979 to join the agency he helped create as NOAA's Deputy Administrator for Administration. Sam concluded his career as Vice Chancelor for the University of Maryland, College Park where he applied four decades of acquired expertise in budget administration.

In retirement, Sam took pleasure serving his Chevy Chase Village community for 24 consecutive years, (1999 - 2023) including roles as Board Assistant Treasurer, Board Treasurer, and Chairing and membership on the Village's Budget and Financial Review Committees. Throughout his professional career and volunteer service, Sam was respected and admired for his depth and breadth of knowledge, strategic thinking, and keen regard for detail.

Sam met his true love, Mary (Polly) Welman Miller shortly after moving to Washington, DC in 1957. Sam and Polly enjoyed 61 fun-filled and loving years together. Sam kept up with his Polly on the tennis court, and Polly followed Sam down the ski slopes. Whether a round of golf, trip abroad, or celebration, the gathering would always include liveliness and laughter which the couple enjoyed with a network of treasured family and friends.

The Lawrence family has maintained generations-long ties with Mount Desert Island (MDI) Maine where Sam worked to ensure that the family property in Southwest Harbor continue to serve as a gathering place for generations to come. He reveled in exploring MDI's many trails, boating, tennis, golf, picnics, and riding in his 1926 Model T Ford. Above all, he loved sailing the family's Bullseye with Polly, deftly reading the winds and riding the tides to the windswept Baker Island, a remote destination they both loved and shared a deep connection with. Over countless summers, Sam enjoyed much company and conversation with friends, neighbors, and family on the house porch, (family HQ) overlooking Somes Sound.

After Polly's death in 2017, Sam remained intellectually, physically, and socially engaged in life. He continued to take courses at American University, stayed current in world events, organized bridge games, dinners, theater outings, tennis, and golf with friends, and attended services at the National Cathedral into his later years.

Sam was uniquely fluid in the realms of science and spirituality â€" he was in awe of the natural world throughout his life while his family connections to the Episcopal Church anchored his spirituality. Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" was a continual refrain in Sam's life, the sentiment of which he both embodied and shared with so many whose lives he touched. Towards the end, he most wanted to rejoice in reuniting with Polly in heaven. One could say his wish came true, having passed less than two days before what would have been Polly's 90th birthday.

Sam exemplified living life fully and will forever be remembered as an exceptionally caring, curious, inclusive, playful, hardworking, and determined soul, whose spirit will live on in our memories. He is predeceased by his wife, Mary (Polly) Lawrence and survived by two sisters, Sarah (Sally) Clark and Hannah (Nancy) Schuller, and his children Susan (Eric) Carlson, Sam (Kate) Lawrence Jr, and Mary (John) Caulfield; grandchildren Thomas and Neville Caulfield, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

A private gathering will be held in Chevy Chase in Spring 2024, and a Celebration of Life in Southwest Harbor, ME August 2024. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Washington National Cathedral and/or to Compassion & Choices, an organization dedicated to easing life's final days by recognizing everyone's desires to die at a time and place of their choice.