Lawrence Evans Scott

Portrait of Lawrence Evans Scott Headstone Photograph

Full Name: Lawrence Evans Scott
Location: Section:Statesman's Meadow, Section 1 (E)
Row:J  Number:1A
Reason for Eligibility: Spouse, Jenny Lind Porter 
Birth Date: October 14, 1920 
Died: May 3, 2008 
Burial Date: May 10, 2008 
 

SCOTT, LAWRENCE EVANS (1920 ~ 2008). The following is an obituary for Lawrence Evans Scott, spouse of Texas Poet Laureate Jenny Lind Porter. The obituary was provided by Weed - Corley - Fish Funeral Home.

"Lawrence Evans Scott, born in Nederland, Texas, on October 14, 1920, to native Texans Norma Linn Scott and John Mitchell Scott, died May 3, 2008, of heart failure and pneumonia.

He was born into a family which came to Texas in the early days of the Republic. The Linn's were Irish barons who settled in Victoria, Texas. Lawrence's great-grandfather was Edward Linn, translator for Sam Houston, surveyor, and co-owner of an import company with his brother, John J. Linn. In 1840 the Comanches destroyed Linnville and rode off with $300, 000 worth of goods from the Linn warehouse. Juan Linn Street in Victoria is named for John J. Linn, author of Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas. The John Scott family settled in Warrenton, Virginia, where a large brass plaque in the courthouse salutes the many distinguished Scotts and their contributions to Virginia and America. The Scott home, Oakwood, preserves the china given to them by Lincoln and the clock which was a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette.

Lawrence grew up in Mullen and Buffalo, Texas; his father was the Superintendent of Schools and his mother, a teacher of government and English. His siblings were noted architect John Linn Scott; Norma Elizabeth Scott Johnson, a professor at San Jacinto Junior College; Virginia Scott (Mrs. Bradford) Dismukes, a Powers model whose husband's work for Socony-Mobil took them to London and Caracas; and Patricia Scott (Mrs. Louis) Burton, a UT graduate in marketing.

Lawrence received a B. A. from Sul Ross University in 1941; a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the UT School of Law in 1948; and a diploma from the Anderson School of Business Management at UCLA. An officer in the U.S. Navy from 1941-1946, he served in the Caribbean, the Atlantic, and the Pacific theatres, protecting our shores from German submarines and later guarding large American and British ships and enduring Japanese Kamikaze planes and typhoons. In 1943 he married Barbara Whitehead in New York, and after the war returned to UT and its law school. He was admitted to the bar in 1948 and later licensed to practice before the Supreme Court. He entered the oil business 60 years ago, first in the oil fields of Pennsylvania and then in Louisiana. In 1955 the family moved from New Orleans to California, where he first worked for Standard Oil of California (Chevron) and later for Pauley Petroleum of Los Angeles. In 1972 Lawrence formed his own company, Lawbar Petroleum, Inc. During his 40 years in California, Lawrence was an active member of both the University Board of Pepperdine University and the Board of the School of Law. In Austin he served on the Board of Trustees of Huston Tillotson University.

On May 19, 1981, Lawrence married Jenny Lind Porter, author, educator, Texas Women's Hall of Fame and a Texas Poet Laureate. It was a happy marriage. Lawrence took immense pride in his wife's writing, and together they founded The Texas Poets' Corner at West Texas A&M University (where she used to teach), with their collection of rare books, paintings of famous writers (0. Henry, Lord Byron, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, George Elyot, etc.), antique furniture, oriental rugs, and manuscripts. They also became patrons of the O. Henry Museum, helping it to acquire and publish an unknown O. Henry children's story. Lawrence Scott was a life member of the UT Exes Association; and a member of the Texas and American Bar Associations, the Austin Club, and the Pepperdine Associates. He is survived by his beloved wife, Jenny Lind; two children by his first wife, John Lawrence Scott and Barbara Scott Goudey; plus seven grandchildren - John Patrick, Kevin, Danny, Kayla, and Chris Scott, and Bill and Yvonne Frederick; his sisters, Virginia Scott Dismukes of Carrollton, TX and Patricia Scott Burton of Kerrville, TX also survive. Other survivors are nephews and nieces: Mark Burton, Lee Burton, John R. Johnson, Scott Dismukes, and Donna Crossland, daughter of John Linn Scott. Lawrence made his transition to a higher dominion with an unsullied character. He was a good man, ethical, honest, moral, unpretentious, compassionate, and spiritual. He was the man who helped students go to college, gave a place in his home to Mormons on mission, made sure his mother had everything she needed. As his partners said, 'Larry was one of a kind.'

Visitation hours at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home, 3125 North Lamar Blvd, will be from 5-7:00 P.M. on Friday, May 9. The funeral service will be held in the Weed Corley Fish Chapel at 10:00 on Saturday, May 10, followed by burial in the Texas State Cemetery, 7th and Navasota. There, appropriately, he will rest with other great Texans."

Further information is available through the Texas State Cemetery research department.  

Additional Multimedia Files To Download:

#16832) Title:Lawrence Scott Back View Marker
Source:Cemetery Photographer
Description:Back View of Scott Stone

 

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