Letter to the Editor: Fortunate and humbled to have known Rev. Lawrence

Yes, great men walk among us, and one such man was the Rev. Robert Lawrence, who passed at age 88. Age 88 suited him well, as he had the energy and power of an Oldsmobile 88!

A chaplain to both the Summer and Winter Olympics, he also championed the Titanic and was an invited chaplain to major Titanic events. He also participated in major celebrations of Pearl Harbor activities, involving the USS Arizona in Hawaii.

His amazing ability to talk on subjects such as these brought him to the attention of the Fall River Area Catholic First Friday Club, the oldest such club in the U.S. dating back to 1940, that enjoyed such world famous speakers such as Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, and the founder of the Christophers in 1945, Father James Keller, as well as Fall River-born Boston Red Sox star Jerry Remy. I mention this because this club was blessed to have the Who’s Who of religious men and women address our club, and only one Protestant minister addressed our club twice, and was ready to return again he was so acclaimed, and that was the Rev. Robert Lawrence.

A down-to-earth man, he was quick to say, “Daryl, let’s go to Jerry’s!” That was the former Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill in Fall River. It was at one of our private get-togethers for lunch that he shared with me that his mentor was the late Norman Vincent Peale, whom we both met at Peale’s Marble Collegiate Church in New York City in the 1970s. For those of us who listened to and read Rev. Lawrence’s many talks, his tone often was that of Norman Vincent Peale.

I was deeply honored when at age 85, the Rev. Lawrence hand-carried a Letter of Recommendation to the mayor of Fall River for me to serve as an Election Commissioner. Age 85, doing this!

I am humbled beyond imagination for having had the privilege of having enjoyed the friendship of the Rev. Robert Lawrence.

Daryl Gonyon

Fall River