My Father-in-Law

My Father-in-law, Ronald C. Lawrence, passed away on August 5, 2009 after a short, but brutal battle with kidney cancer. He was 71 years old. Luckily, he was in good health until a few months before his death. He also enjoyed a long retirement after leaving McDonnell Douglas in 1995. Except for a short stint at Emerson Electric, he spent his career as an engineer at McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing after it merger in 1997). He was the consummate Cold Warrior, doing his part to win the Cold War with his intellect and slide rule. In addition to working on the Gemini and Skylab programs, his main work was on the development and deployment of the Harpoon Missile System in South Korea and Denmark. I always thought he would have fit right in with the mission control guys in the space program and I always think of him when I watch Apollo 13. More down to earth, he was good at helping us install ceiling fans and garage doors!

I first met Ron in 1992 when I began dating his youngest daughter. As with most father-in-laws, I was greeted with suspicion and ultimately judged unfit and not good enough for his daughter, but in the end I respected him because he was an extremely good Grandpa to my son and I believe I gained his respect with my dedication to my son. He is sorely missed and I am very sorry that my 9 year old son lost his grandfather he loved so much.

Update Jerry Lynde

Great news! About a month ago, I focused on finding living relatives of Jerry Lynde of the Hetzler Crew and today my efforts paid off! Today I learned from a close family friend that Jerry's sister is still alive and is 86 years old. She was 3 years younger than Jerry. She still lives in Wyoming, not far from where they grew up in Recluse. Luckily, she has letters and photographs, which are going to be copied and sent to me.

I learned a little bit about him today: Right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jerry was boiling with anger as many Americans were that day. He traveled to Billings the next day and joined the Army Air Corp. His enlistment record shows that he did indeed join the military shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Also, Jerry was a real cowboy. His father owned a ranch and Jerry owned a horse named "Bill". He loved country dancing and all of the girls loved to dance with him. Jessie always wanted to dance with her older brother herself, but because of all of the other girls at the dances she didn't get to and was jealous.