More on My Brother Lawrence

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lawrence.

I always looked up to and admired my brother. He was a great guy. Besides his intelligence and great sense of humor, he actually went out and did the things I only thought about doing. I always liked stories about people who sailed around the world or had adventures on sailing boats. He actually sailed to Norway on a big ship as a crew member. In high school, I thought about joining Vista. He actually worked for Vista as a lawyer for several Native American tribes in Nebraska.

My brother did things before they were cool. He went to college in Colorado at a time when most people I knew went to school locally. He was a birdwatcher. He took Tai Kwon Do lessons. He was a runner. He worked for the political campaign of Allard Lowenstein in NY. He was the first person I ever knew who had a jeep.

He was a hands on Dad, and he loved his family. I can't think of a better tribute than that.

My favorite family photo of Lily, Lawrence, Paula and Elena

Below are some links that my sister-in-law Paula sent me that tell some more about his life and career as a Public Defender.
http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=96850769

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/startribune/obituary.aspx?n=larry-hammerling&pid=143708242&fhid=3436

http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/97035944.html?elr=KArks47cQiUdcOy_9cP3DiU47cQUU

I found this picture of us in the 1950's recently.
I couldn't remember when it was taken, but I love it.

This one was taken maybe 4 years ago
when John and I visited.

My Brother, Lawrence Hammerling

It breaks my heart to write this. My smart, funny, cool, brave brother, Lawrence, passed away this evening after a two year battle with brain cancer. He was a great person, a fantastic Dad of the two gorgeous girls, above, Lily and Elena, and was very happily married to my wonderful sister-in-law, Paula Duthoy. I am so grateful to Paula for all she did advocating on Lawrence's behalf.
I'll miss him.