Harry Joseph Lawrence

Harry Joseph “Joe” Lawrence passed away on Sunday 2 March 2025 from complications with leukemia. Joe and his twin brother, Bo (who was a Carthusian monk) were born in 1930. Their mother died when they were 6 months old, then Joe, Bo and their older brother, Roger were separated and raised by various relatives in different households. Joe grew up in tough times in Baltimore during the Great Depression. He attended St. Martin’s Catholic School (1st-12th grade), where he played on the Baltimore City CYO Championship Basketball Team and graduated in 1948. He then worked at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard as a steel worker, leaving to join the U.S Army in 1951 during the Korean War where he initially trained as an infantryman with the 3rd Armored Division at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Joe’s high aptitude test scores refocused his military career to the Signal Corp and advanced training as a cryptographer and teletype operator.

Joe served in the Army from 1951-53, most of it in Occupied Germany. He frequently mentioned how fortunate he was to be sent to Occupied Germany with the Signal Corp, rather than to Korea with his original infantry company, where many of his good friends died during an ambush attack. Joe’s Signal Corp unit was one of the first American units to take over the French Occupied Zone post WWII in Germany in 1951. When he arrived, he was greeted by “piles of war-rubble” everywhere in the streets. His Signal Battalion deployed to Holland in 1953 when the North Sea broke through the dykes, flooding the country and destroying communication lines. His unit worked tirelessly for months rebuilding Holland’s communication network. Joe rose to the rank of corporal and was selected for Sergeant, but opted to return to civilian life and was honorably discharged. Joe was awarded the Expert Rifleman Qualification Badge, The Good Conduct Medal, The Occupation Medal (Germany) and the National Defense Medal.

Joe returned to Baltimore, Maryland and work at Bethlehem Steel Mill, but his buddies there wanted more for him, encouraging him to use his G.I. Bill to attend the University of Maryland. He took their advice, and it changed his life. In 1956, while studying at the UofM, one of his friends set him up on a blind date with Johanna Dennis, a beautiful RN from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Joe said countless times, it was “love at first sight”. They were married in September 1958, settled in Bowie, Maryland in 1962, and happily lived there for almost 62 years, raising four children.

Joe faithfully served his family, community and parish his entire life. On a bitterly cold winter day in the early 1970s, while ice skating at Foxhill Park Pond with his three young sons, a young girl broke through the ice, quickly sinking out of sight in deep water from the weight of her winter clothes. Without hesitation, Joe skated full speed, shouting to the crowd “get back” as he dove in. He couldn’t see her in the dark water, but never quit, surfacing to breathe, and diving again and again, deeper, groping in a race against time. Miraculously, her long hair passed through his hand and he grabbed tightly. Somehow, he got the little girl and himself back on to the ice. It was an image never forgotten by his proud sons. Joe never learned the little girls’ name, but he never forgot her.

In the mid-1960s Joe co-founded an industrial fastener company that later grew into a multi-million dollar business. He left the company early on to spend more time with his family, often saying he was happier for it, and that his family made him a true millionaire. Joe became a nationally recognized salesman in the semiconductor and electronics industry, seeing the electronics industry evolve from vacuum tubes to semiconductors during his tenure.

Joe loved soccer, and many young Bowie families in the 60’s and 70’s had limited budgets. He saw soccer as a team sport any child could play without need for the expensive equipment required by football. Joe was active in the Bowie Boys Club and lobbied to rename it to the Bowie Boys and Girls Club, recognizing all daughters in Bowie (including his own) who played sports. Later, when the Bowie Boys and Girls club wouldn’t expand soccer in Bowie, Joe and several of his friends left the club and founded the Bowie Soccer Association “BSA”. For 15 years, Joe donated thousands of hours, serving as a coach to multiple teams, commissioner, president and referee. He was the only Bowie Soccer Commissioner to bring two international soccer tournaments to town and he helped coach the Rowdy Mugs girls’ soccer team to many victories and championships. Joe simply wanted Bowie children to have a healthy, affordable sport and guidance he never had when he was growing up. Within two years of its inception, the BSA had over 3,000 Bowie children playing on its soccer teams. More fields were needed, so Joe reached out to The Army Corps of Engineers and they agreed to build eight new fields at no charge to the City of Bowie. He also convinced the owner of Fairwood Turf Farm to donate grass seed, lime and fertilizer for all the fields. At some point, the fields were developed into housing but for the many years they were there, countless thousands of Bowie children had fun playing soccer on those fields and Bowie became a soccer powerhouse.

Joe’s faith was strong and he served for many years as an usher at St. Pius X. He also supported Catholic vocations and in particular, the communities of The Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary and The Joseph House in Sailsbury, Maryland, both of which were founded by his cousin, Sister Mary Elizabeth “Mae” Gintling. Joe tithed meaningfully to support their work with the poor.

Joe was dedicated to veterans and was an active member of Omaha Beach No. 7 – DAV in Bowie. He and his fellow DAV members volunteered for years with Marines Helping Marines. They regularly visited wounded warriors and their families at Walter Reed and hosted a free BBQ from 2004-2012 every April - October for wounded warriors, their families and medical support personnel.

Folks driving along Route 197 at Kenhill Drive in Bowie might take a moment to remember Joe as they drive by the tall, grass-covered dirt berm that greets drivers with “B-O-W-I-E” in spelled out in manicured shrubs on the berm’s hillside Decades ago, the planting was Joe’s idea for the truckloads of dirt left over when the road was expanded. Bowie’s City Council embraced his idea.

Joe loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing with his children on the Eastern Shore. He was an avid gardener and bird lover. He also loved travelling with his wife and family. He passionately cooked his famous spaghetti sauce and venison chili. He relished Maryland oysters on the half shell with his good friends, Bud Marzin and Dr. Carlos Sera, and he was especially fond of crabcakes from Blue Dolphin Restaurant. Joe always loved a good joke and he always looked at the world with his glass half full.

Joe loved his faith, family and his country; he had the grit of steelworker who’d lived through the Great Depression and the enthusiastic optimism of a kid. His lifelong motto was Illegitimati non carborundum- "Don't let the bastards grind you down". Joe never gave up…. whether it was rooting for his hometown Baltimore Orioles or Ravens, or caring at home for his beloved wife, Johanna for over 10 years as she declined from dementia. In the last 6 months of his life, he moved into assisted living at Friends House in Sandy Spring, Maryland to be with Johanna, visiting and sitting with her daily until he was too weak. Joe saved his last words to tell his family how much he loved them and was proud of them.

Joe is survived by his wife of 66 years, Johanna, their children and partners; John Lawrence (Robinne Gray) of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence - CAPT (USPHS Ret) of Flagstaff, Arizona, James Lawrence of Cologne, Germany, and Julie Lawrence of Severn, Maryland; his grandson Jan Lawrence of Cologne, Germany much beloved by Joe. He was preceded in death by his parents Margaret Stiegler Lawrence and Nevin Lawrence, and his brothers Roger and Father Bruno Lawrence.

The family thanks Joe and Johanna’s personal home health care aides(s) Silvia and Brittany; Vida Robb, RN and her wonderful staff at Refreshing Springs Assisted Living; hospital staff at Anne Arundel Medical Center, Doctors Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital, and especially the cardiology team at University of Maryland Medical Center at Baltimore; the entire staff at Friends House Assisted Living in Sandy Spring, Maryland, and JSSA Hospice Team for all the wonderful care and compassion that they provided.

A wake will be held at Beall Funeral Home in Bowie, Maryland on Wednesday, 26 March from 6-8 pm at 6512 NW Crain Hwy. (Rte. 3 South) Bowie, Maryland 20715. Funeral services will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Chapel in Bowie, Maryland on Thursday, 27 March at 11:00am at 16501 Annapolis Rd. Bowie, MD 20715, immediately followed by burial at Crownsville Maryland VA Cemetery at 1:00 pm, located at 1122 Sunrise Beach Rd., Crownsville, MD 21032. There will be a Celebration of Life reception with appetizers immediately following the burial at the Blue Dolphin Seafood Bar and Grill located at 1166 MD Route 3 North, Gambrills, MD 21054.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Joseph House, P.O. Box 1755 Salisbury, MD 21802 USA (P): 410-742-9590.