Whitney Elmore Lawrence was born in Santa Rosa, California in January 1918 and passed away at Kaiser Vallejo after a short illness on March 5, 2019. Whit was the loving and devoted husband of Arline Lawrence for 74 years. Together they had four children: Cynthia Phillips (John), Kerry Watty (Garrett), Mark Lawrence (Roxanne), and Julia Ladrech (Andre); 6 grandchildren: Kimberly, Michael and Daniel Phillips (Maye), Wyatt Watty (Alex), Amanda Hoffman (Robert) and Brett Ladrech (Jessica), Tyler Nelson (Robert Hoffman); 5 great-grandchildren: Indigo Phillips, Hannah and Evan Watty, and Mikala and Trevor Nelson (Robert Hoffman).
Whitney’s parents, George and Lois Lawrence and his brothers: George Jr. and Willard are predeceased. Whitney was a graduate of Richmond High School, Richmond, California in January 1936, and graduate of Fresno State College and the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1941. He was a Member of the Glee Club and of Chi Pi Sigma, Chemistry Honor Society; and a Chemical Aid in the Department of Agriculture.
Beginning in 1941, Whitney was employed with Griffin Chemical Company, as a Plant Engineer; Nopco Chemical Company, as an Assistant Plant Manager; and U.S. Peroxygen, a subsidiary of Argus, a Division of Whitco Chemical, as a Process Development Engineer, all in Richmond, California. After retirement, he was Self-Employed as a Safety Consultant for Witco Chemical Corporation, U.S. Peroxygen Division for 32 contracts. He was employed as an Emergency Teacher for the Klamath-Trinity School District for K-12 grades.
Whitney was active in Boy Scouts of America in Troop #0015 and earned his Eagle Scout Badge on June 13, 1936. He was a Troop Leader for several troops. As a young man, Whit, along with his brother, George Jr. and cousins, Phil and Bob Reynolds and their parents, George Lawrence and Harold Reynolds, climbed Mount Whitney to Watch Tower Rock on July 7, 1935.
Throughout his life he sang in church choirs as a tenor and most recently in the Paradise Community Chorus until age 99. He knew California native plants by their Latin names. Other hobbies included: Nature, Hiking, Photography, Language: German and French, Astronomy, Genealogy and Beekeeping.
His greatest achievement was inventing the Process For Purifying Solid Peroxides, along with coworkers: William A. Nielsen and Ronald F. Friedman. Together they filed Patent #3,367,951 on April 10, 1964, which was patented in the United States on February 6, 1968. Whitney was a Christian of strong faith and attended many churches in the Bay Area, as well as in Humbolt County, and most recently Craig Memorial Congregational Church in Paradise, California, where he served on the Care Committee.
He was a member of the National Audubon Society, the Native Plant Society and the Sierra Club. Family and friends of Whitney are welcome to a Celebration of Life at a Family Reunion in American Canyon on Saturday, August 17th. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributing to: Craig Memorial Congregational Church, P.O. Box 1386, Paradise, California 95967 The National Audubon Society, 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014 Sierra Club National Headquarters, 2101 Webster Street, Suite 1300, Oakland, CA 94612 To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Whitney Elmore Lawrence please visit our Sympathy Store.
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