Lawrence

Longtime area resident

Ed Lawrence, 93, died

September 14, 2012 at his beloved farm, Springacres Ranch. Edwin Fulton Lawrence was born December 24, 1918 to Edward and Edna Fulton Lawrence in Moscow, Idaho. His mother, Edna, died in the Spanish influenza outbreak of 1920 and the family decided that Ed would live with Edna's sister, Katy, and her husband Frank Neace. Katy and Frank had no children of their own and were happy to assume a parent­ing role. Ed visited his father in Chehalis during summers and fondly remembered spending time with him, helping out at his pharmacy or fishing on a nearby lake. In the early 1920's, Frank, Katy and Edwin moved to Inglewood California. Ed at­tended elementary school there, and the family came home to the Waitsburg farm each summer.

In 1930, Katy, Frank, and Ed moved back to the Waitsburg farm and Ed attended eighth grade at McKay School, a country school located on the Neace farm. He rode his horse to school and was instructed by teacher Aleta Talbott. At Waits­burg High School, he was a Car­dinal hurdler, winning medals in the state track meet. He served as student body president, wrote for the school paper, and became a trumpeter in the band.

Ed graduated from Waits­burg High School in 1936 and spent a year at Miramonte Col­lege in Atascadero, California before attending Stanford Uni­versity. At Stanford he majored in journalism, was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fra­ternity, and graduated in 1940. In 1941, after he briefly looked for journalism work in Los Angeles, he accepted Frank and Katy Neace's offer to farm their land north of Waitsburg. Ed married Gloria Dumas in 1942 and together they made a life at Springacres Ranch. Their re­modeling of the old farm house in 1942 was the beginning of many improvement projects as they strived to make their place on McKay Creek an attractive and productive farm. After watching a big storm sweep tor­rents of top soil down the creek, Ed decided to implement soil conservation practices. He was a pioneer in using trashy fallow, strip farming, and no-till meth­ods. Ed and Gloria received the Conservation Farmers of the Year award in 1955. He was active in the Wheat Associa­tion and headed up their public relations campaign for several years.

Though farming was Ed's profession, he did not give up his love for writing. For several years he wrote a weekly col­umn for the Waitsburg Times and Dayton Chronicle. On occasion, when the publishers went on vacation, he took over the editorship of The Times and enjoyed giving it some unique touches. He was a lover of words, and could often be found scribbling down word combinations or doing cross­word puzzles.

Ed loved working on proj­ects. In addition to remodel­ing the farm house, he built a swimming pool in the backyard at the farm which he and Gloria later transformed into a patio and garden. He did the finish­ing work for the beach house he and Gloria built in Yachats, Oregon. In later years he de­signed ponds and wildlife areas at the ranch. He was always looking for ideas to implement and remained interested in new ways to use the farm and its resources.

Ed took up golf as a boy in California, and continued to play in high school and college. He remembered playing golf on the nine hole golf course that existed briefly in Waitsburg in the early 1930's. The course, located near the race track and Coppei River, had sand greens and used the interior of the track for some fairways. Ed could be found on the links in Dayton or Walla Walla most Wednesdays and Saturdays for many years.

Ed was a stalwart believer in citizenship and active participa­tion in government. He loved living in the northwest and was a loyal citizen of Waitsburg.. In early years he was a supporter of the Days of Real Sport and served as president of the PTA. He and Larry Broom collabo­rated on various humorous skits and a PTA play called "Who Honked That Saddlehorn." He built a float for the Days of Real Sport parade, featuring the Preston Shaffer mill complete with water wheel. When trees disappeared from Main Street, he promoted replanting. He helped to provide new instru­ments to the Waitsburg Schools music program and enjoyed seeing the band perform. Re­cently he became committed to the idea of building bathroom and concession facilities at the Waitsburg football field and wanted to start the ball rolling on that project.

Ed was an avid reader, di­gesting the Wall Street Journal daily along with the local papers. Each day the mailman would bring more magazines to add to the piles beside his chair. He frequently cut out articles of interest and made notes about all kinds of ideas. From boy­hood on he had a dog at his side and he gave a happy home to a number of devoted canine friends as well as cats, horses, and a number of other animals.

Ed is survived by his daugh­ter and son-in-law, Susan and Jerry Talbott of Yakima, grand­son Michael Talbott and wife Briana;, granddaughter Chris­tine Carter and husband Jered, and great grandson Hawken Tal­bott. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife of 65 years, Gloria, in 2007.

A memorial gathering will be held Wednesday, September 26th at 2:30 p.m. at the ranch at 114 Lost Springs Lane, Waits­burg. All are welcome. Memo­rial contributions may be made to the Blue Mountain Humane Society or other animal welfare organization, the Ed and Gloria Lawrence fund for the arts at the Blue Mountain Community Foundation, Planned Parent­hood, or charity of the donor's choice.