Andrew Lawlor

Andrew W. Lawlor, 83, of Fairview, died peacefully at home on Oct 24, 2013 after a long illness.

He was born June 14, 1930 in Teaneck, N.J., to the late Andrew and Elma (Hickman) Lawlor. He graduated from Bergenfield High School and later Fairleigh Dickinson University, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. He served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, stationed in Germany. Mr. Lawlor met his beloved wife, Josephine DeMartino, of Teaneck, N.J., and they wed on June 7, 1958. They had four children. The couple moved to Erie in 1965, when Mr. Lawlor secured an engineering job at Kaiser Aluminum. They moved to Fairview in 1972.

In the 1970s, he built a wooden boat, the Osprey, in the garage, and the family enjoyed sailing in the bay or Lake Erie. He later acquired a Catalina 25 sloop, It's About Time, and raced it many years with the Erie Yacht Club fleet. He was also an avid artist, attending painting workshops around the country. He was proud to be represented by the Bayfront Gallery for many seasons.

He was a genealogy buff, tracing his family roots to his grandfather's service in the Civil War, and writing detailed family histories dating to the pre-Revolutionary era. He retired from Kaiser in 1993, and the couple spent their retirement years happily traveling, often to visit children and grandchildren. They also toured Ireland and Italy, and sailed through the Bahamas.

Along with his parents and stepfather Peter Meyers, he was preceded in death by his brother, John Lawlor.

A devoted husband and father, surviving are his wife Josephine; children Andrew (Suzanne) Lawlor of Albion and Newtown, Pa.; Janine (Clark) Wren of Lumberton, N.C.; Suzanne Lawlor Bennett of Duluth, Ga.; Joe (Melanie) Lawlor of Portland, Maine; brother, Roger (Anne) Lawlor of Washington Twp., N.J.; five grandchildren; Andrew Lawlor, Sarah (Tyson) Johnston, Nicholas Bennett, David Lawlor, Michael Lawlor, and many nieces and nephews.

Friends may call at the Burton Westlake Funeral Home, 3801 West 26th Street, on Monday from 6 to 8 pm and are invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday at Holy Cross Church, 7100 W Ridge Rd Fairview, PA 16415, at 10 am with Rev. Scott Detisch officiating. Interment will follow in Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation, 130 West 8th Street Erie, PA 16501.