Lawrence Courtland Williams, 90, of Punto Gorda, FL, formerly of Milford, CT, passed away at his home surrounded by his family on Sunday, June 29th 2014.
Larry was born in Lowell Massachusetts on March 31, 1924 to Alice and Harold Williams.
Married to Apolonia Rose Williams, on June 14th 1943 in Paris Texas; they enjoyed 71 wonderful years together and raised six children.
He will be remembered as a gentle man with a kind heart and soul; he was loved by all who met him. The things that he enjoyed most in life were being with his family, watching a good movie, cheering on his favorite sports team, listening to the rain fall and most of all — fishing.
He was an avid fisherman and expert fly & rod caster as well as a boating enthusiast and owned his own boat marina for a number of years in Milford, Ct. Larry was the recipient of a number of fishing awards including an award from Field and Stream for the largest fish caught from on shore. He was more at home on the water than anyplace else and raised all his children to have a love for fishing and boating.
Over his lifetime he experienced a number of careers which included working for a period of time during his youth at Fenway Park where he had the great honor of meeting Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Shortly afterwards he joined the Army Combat Engineers and fought in the Asiatic Pacific Theater and is the recipient of two Bronze Stars which is the fourth-highest individual military award for acts of heroism in a combat zone. He was a proud lifelong member of the Masons.
A Certified Land Surveyor and Civil Engineer, after his service to his country Larry worked for Metcalf and Eddie as well as JM Rosa and among other projects was involved with the construction of route 128 around Boston, the Merritt Parkway and I-95. During mid-life Larry broke away and started his own Land Surveyor Firm, Lawrence C. Williams Land Surveyors out of Milford, CT. where he became a very well respected businessman and continued to operate his company until retiring to Florida in the 1990’s.
Surviving family members include: Apolonia R. Williams, his wife of Punta Gorda, FL; Children: Audrey Williams of Sumner WA; Linda Condon & husband Thomas of Stamford, CT; Claudia Voight of Windham, VT; Larry Williams & fiancé Mary Susan Perceval of Milford, CT; Sherry Williams & husband Charles I. Bechtle of Buckley WA; Heidi Williams of Punta Gorda FL.
Surviving grandchildren & spouses include: Allison Norris & husband Hani Attalla of San Diego CA; Alex Norris of Sumner WA; Thomas Condon of Gig Harbor WA; Robert Condon of New Mexico: Christopher Williams & wife Bess of Weston CT; James Brages of PA; Gretchen Voight of Otisfield Gore ME; Heidi Voight of West Hartford CT; Victoria Voight of San Francisco CA; Chandler Williams of Punta Gorda FL and Sara Faulkner & husband Rob Faulkner of East Haven CT.
Surviving great-grandchildren include: Christopher Williams Jr, Jordan, Jude & Ella Attalla; Tyler, Brodie and Meghan Faulkner; Haylee, Alexia and DJ Brages and Leonidas (Leo) Williams.
Surviving cousin’s include: Diane Sosnoski and son Stuart Sosnoski of Milford CT.
Larry predeceased by his brother Kenneth Williams, his mother Beatrice (Alice) Williams, father Harold Williams, Aunt Dorothy Stuart and son in laws Douglas Brages and Alexander Norris.
A Memorial Service will be held in Larry’s honor on Friday, July 11th at 11:00 am at the Cody-White Funeral Home, 107 Broad Street, Milford CT 06460. Burial will follow at Kings Highway Cemetery, Milford. Friends and family may call on Thursday, July 10th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at The Cody-White Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Tidewell Hospice, Philanthropy Department, 5595 Rand Boulevard, Sarasota, FL 34238.
To leave online condolences, please visit our website at www.codywhitefuneralservice.com.