Obituary
On Saturday, August 28,2021, Lola Lawrence loving wife and mother of three children, passed away from the Corona Virus at the age of 87.
Born in Lewiston, Maine on August 5, 1934, she was the daughter of Nelmo and Gertrude Frateschi and the eldest of six children.
A graduate of Lewiston High School in 1953, she then attended Rivier University in New Hampshire. She completed her studies with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, with Honors, from the University of Central Florida.
Lola lived life unapologetically, with a passion for love of her family and for life. Many of those close to her would describe her as a” Force of Nature” as she would challenge almost everyone she met to the core of their being to see what they were made of in order to help them achieve their greatest potential.
She had many accomplishments throughout her lifetime, but one of the most impactful and meaningful to her, was raising her three children with her husband of 54 years, Fred Lawrence.
Out of support and love for her eldest child, Marc Thompson, she founded a school for the deaf in Palm Beach, Florida. Her efforts and testimony helped shape the “Commissioner of Education’s Technical Task Force” on the education of the hearing-impaired directives in the early 1970’s. She was very proud that her impact on the deaf community helped positively change the way in which deaf children would be educated in Florida and throughout the country.
Lola was also a gifted artist, of painting, sculpting and photography. She is well known throughout the art community in Florida and won many national and state awards for her talent. One of her most beloved and personal family art photos proudly still hangs in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. In her early years as an artist, she developed in her own dark room, using black and white photographic techniques which were cutting edge technology of that time. She founded the Southeast Volusia Camera Club in 1993, where she remained active as their President and Director until her recent retirement. She was a longtime member and exhibitor of the “Artist Workshop” in New Smyrna Beach, “The Daytona Art League” and the “Merrimack Valley Camera Club” in Massachusetts.
She is survived by her husband Fred Lawrence and her two children Marcus Thompson and Nila Thompson. She has joined her youngest child Gerry Lawrence, who also passed away from the Corona virus on August 16, 2021.
She will be buried with her parents in Lewiston Maine at a time to be announced.
A celebration of life will be held at her home on September 16,2021 from 3:00-6:00 at 104 Donlon Drive, New Smyrna Beach, Fl 32168.
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