DATE: Saturday, September 27, 1997          TAG: 9709270283

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: GATES                             LENGTH:   29 lines

M. WATSON LAWRENCE SR.

Marion Watson Lawrence Sr., 77, of Route 1, died Friday, Sept. 26, 1997, in Louise Obici Memorial Hospital, Suffolk.

Mr. Lawrence was born in Gates County. The son of the late W.H. and Mrs. Mabel Watson Lawrence, he was a retired farmer and also had retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, in Gates County. Following retirement, he was a part-time associate with Miller Funeral Home, Gatesville. He was a member, deacon and trustee of Gatesville Baptist Church and a member of the Gatesville Senior Citizens. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he served in the Seabees.

Surviving is his wife, Hazel Babb Lawrence; two daughters, Becky L. McLawhorn of Gates and Nancy L. Sharpe of Newport, N.C.; a son, M. Watson Lawrence Jr. of Gates; two sisters, Bernice L. Strickler of Newport News and Elsie L. Tyler of Gates; and five grandchildren, Susan McLawhorn, Matthew and Mason Lawrence, and Sarah and Hannah Sharpe. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Peggy Eileen Lawrence.

A funeral will be conducted at 3 p.m. Sunday in Gatesville Baptist Church by the Rev. Gene Asbill and the Rev. Billy Presley. Burial will follow in the Lawrence Family Cemetery with Miller Funeral Home, Gatesville, in charge of arrangements. Friends may join the family in the funeral home from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and other times at the residence. KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY

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