Lawrence Edward Holliday
April 18, 1933 - March 2, 2025
Obituary
It is with with much sadness we announce the passing of Lawrence E. Holliday on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at Wesley Homes in Des Moines, Washington.
Lawrence was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on April 18, 1933, to William Wesley Holliday and Arlene Inez Wheeler.
Lawrence moved to Washington State with his family during grade school. Recently, he shared a memory from those early years of putting out a coal fire in the basement of the Sunnydale Free Methodist Church where his father was pastor. Recalling stories was easy for Lawrence. A longtime neighbor says it well: “Losing Lawrence is like losing a library of memories.”
He graduated from Highline High School and attended one year at Seattle Pacific College while also starting work at Boeing making templates for the B-52. Then he was drafted into the Air Force in 1952. His time as a mechanic and crew chief on the F-86 fighters during the Korean Conflict set him solidly on his career path in aviation.
Upon discharge in 1956 he went back to work with Boeing and also married, LaVonne Shawstad, in 1957. Eventually, he transferred to R-3470 Renton Preflight Electronics where he became a flight analyst in 1967. Lawrence retired from Boeing in 1994, after 43 years with the company, and just two years after the loss of his beloved wife LaVonne to cancer.
Lawrence navigated retirement doing contract work for Boeing, volunteer bus driving for Wesley Homes, repairing pipe organs around the Northwest for a local organ builder, visiting grandchildren, and discovering a new passion for contra dancing.
Lawrence is survived by his daughters Celeste Pinheiro and Melaine Holliday, their children Tyler Pinheiro, Thomas Pinheiro, Angela Harper, and Jakob Janssen, and his nieces and nephews JoyLynn Thomas, Kim Zeitz, Kelly Warner, Troy Shawstad, and Garrett Shawstad. He was preceded in death by his wife LaVonne, his sister Ruth Ramey, and their parents, Wesley and Arlene.
The family would like to thank the caregivers who offered compassionate presence and comfort during Lawrence’s final days when he could no longer stay in the home, under the SeaTac flight path, that he had loved for 67 years.
A Funeral Mass will be held March 25th at 11:00 am at St. Philomena Catholic Church located at 1790 S 222nd St, Des Moines Washington. The graveside service will follow at Washington Memorial Cemetery located at 16445 International Blvd, Sea Tac Washington, at 2:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the University of Washington Medicine BRaIN Lab Fund for Brain Aging and Dementia Research.
https://give.uwmedicine.org/give/?source=BADRFD,NEUROR,NEUONC,TBIRES
We will miss you Lawrence. We will cherish our last visit with you a few months ago. Rest in peace Brother In Law and friend. Al Ramey and Linda Smith
I will miss you so much, Lawrence! You were more like a Brother to me, than a Brother-In-Law! Enjoyed our long telephone chats, on some lonely “Senior” nights!
I “rejoice” for you, now, Lawrence, knowing you are with your Wonderful Saviour and Lord! I can only imagine!
So happy to know you are at long last “Home”, with your Wife, my beautiful Sister, LaVonne, and all your very dear Family, there!
Perhaps, I will join you, soon, as Our Lord leads my life, in His time.
Lawrence was our wonderful neighbor for 33 years. His storytelling was fascinating, recalling memories about growing up as the son of a Free Methodist Minister, time in the Air Force and his stellar career at Boeing as a Test Flight Engineer. I will miss looking up to his beautiful back yard and not seeing him walking around and waving hello. May God embrace him as he welcomes him home and grant his family and friends peace in their hearts as they recall cherished memories of time spent with this kind and gentle man.