TOWNSHEND, Vt. – Edwin Donald Lawrence died Nov. 16, 2021 at Grace Cottage Hospital. He was born in Grafton Aug. 10, 1927, the son of Edwin “Mike” William Lawrence and Hazel “Hap” Thelma Prouty Lawrence.
After graduating from Leland & Gray High School, he joined the Navy and saw active duty at the end of World War II on the U.S.S. Houston (CL-81), after which he attended Rutland Junior College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He then worked for a time in the Merchant Marine.
In 1953, Don married Sarah “Sally” Polhemus in New York, after which they settled in Grafton, where he lived most of his life.
His working life included a partnership with Lee Wilson in the tennis court construction business, selling business forms with Unified Data Products and Barrett Business Forms, and finally his passionate care of Grafton’s cemeteries.
Don enjoyed trout fishing and deer hunting, and he coached Grafton Little League baseball in the Chester league in the ‘60s.
He was predeceased by his wife Sally, brother Jesse, sister Damaris Harris, and his son Timothy.
Survivors include his brother David of Chester, son Scott and his wife Sharon of Grafton, grandson and his wife Andrew and BethAnn and their children Emma, Jesse, and Isaac of Essex Junction, and granddaughter and her husband Melanie and Adam Barton and their children Tyler, Faith, Silas, and David of Claremont, N.H.
The funeral will be a private burial.