Lawrence John Pinter is the eldest of the 3 children of John and Barbara Pinter. He has 2 younger sisters, Cynthia and Adele. He was born on August 31, 1936 in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Lawrence grew up in a big farm in New Jersey and with a big extended family because he had a lot of aunts and uncles. At a young age, Lawrence already knew that he wanted to study Biology because he learned a lot about the plants and animals around their farm. When he was 9 years old, their family moved to Los Angeles, CA.
He went to Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. In 1954, he served in the US Air Force as an instructor of analytic mathematics. He also spent time as a radar technician on Dew Line Defense Stations in Alaska and he was there until 1958.
He got his Associates degree from Pasadena City College in Southern California. He then, went to UCLA for his Bachelor of Science degree. In 1963, he graduated from California State University with his Masters in Biology degree.
He then attended Harvard University for his Doctorate. He worked closely with the University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology and spent time collecting different species of spiders as one of the few noted arachnologists. In 1969, Lawrence returned to southern CA and became the Director/Curator of Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
A couple of years later, he got assigned to American Samoa where he was in charge on developing the science curriculum of the island’s school program and started the island’s museum. The late Patsy Mink who was the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs back then, convinced him to move to Hawaii, where he joined the Navy Vector Control program. He basically addressed pest problems that caused damage to United States Naval facilities and bases in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
He was the senior entomologist from January 1976 until he retired in June 2004. During one of his visits to the Philippines in 1978, he was invited by an Agricultural College in Iloilo because of their pest problem there. Lawrence met his wife, Melinda, while they were up in the sky, flying from Manila to Iloilo because their airplane seats were next to each other.
After 17 years, and after so many trips to the Philippines, Lawrence finally convinced Melinda to get married in 1993; and Melinda moved to Hawaii in 1995. They adopted their son, Lawrence William Pinter, in 2006; and their daughter, Elizette Mae Pinter, in 2012. During his retirement years, he was actively supporting Melinda in her real estate career.
In their free time, Lawrence and his daughter took short trips around the island because he enjoyed the drive and looking at the sceneries. Their last trip was a drive to Haleiwa, North Shore where they had some tacos. Family and friends remember Lawrence as a happy, and sweet person who always had a great story to tell.
He will surely be missed. To send flowers to the family of Lawrence John Pinter please visit our Sympathy Store.
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