Willem got to meet his Great-great-Aunt Elsa when we took our trip down to Florida a couple of months ago. Years of Alzheimers and the complications of growing old in a facility robbed her of most of her speech and muscle control. Despite all that she mustered up some wonderful smiles when she saw Willem and had the energy to grab his meaty thigh and call him "fatty". That is my last memory of her.
Elsa passed away on January 5th at the age of 96. She spent a lifetime caring for others as a teacher, daughter, and sister. I will always remember what a wonderful sense of humor she kept and what a strong role model she was especially for all the women in her family. Below is part of her obituary from the Orlando Sentinel.
Her lifestyle was uncomplicated which reflected her heritage, coming from Swedish immigrant parents, born in the 1800’s, who had come to this country with very few possessions, survived the Great Depression and succeeded through hard work. Because of her upbringing, she had an unshakable, simplistic, optimistic faith in God, quietly expressed. This was shared by her close-knit family, which included six other children. Elsa served for many years as a Sunday School teacher at First Presbyterian Church of Orlando where she was a member.
Her adventurous Swedish father took his family from Maryland to North Carolina to Wyoming and then to Florida. They settled for a while in Pensacola and then traveled by horse-drawn covered wagon in the 1920’s to the Orlando area. The family first lived on the old Orlando Fairgrounds which her father managed (this is now the Bob Carr Auditorium / Amway Arena). The family then settled on the banks of Lake Fairview where she loved to dive and swim. The family finally moving to 1229 Hillcrest Avenue in Orlando.
Elsa loved to travel and some of her favorite memories include going to Ellis Island where her parents came to the United States and the place where her parents first met in New Jersey. Anther special trip was to Southern California, including Knot’s Berry Farm and Tiajuana, Mexico.
Elsa graduated from Orlando Senior High School in 1929 as a member of the National Honor Society. She was one of two daughters in the large family to graduate from college and she loved science, poetry and literature. She worked her way through college and graduated from Florida State College of Women (now Florida State University) in 1933. She was an outstanding student in college and belonged to the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Life Saving Corps and played field hockey there.
Elsa had a dream of becoming a scientist, but in her generation, jobs of that nature first went to men. Instead she became an elementary school teacher in the Orlando school system serving at Delaney Elementary School for 35 years teaching 5th grade. She also taught at Hillcrest and Fern Creek Elementary Schools where she influenced hundreds of students over two generations, sometimes teaching children of her former students. There is a picture in the Beardall Senior Center, formerly Delaney Elementary School, of Elsa Lawson’s last day of teaching at that facility.
As well as being the intellectual in the family, she was known for having a beautifully landscaped yard and her green thumb where the family enjoyed long games of croquet. She was also a wonderful cook, preparing delicious meals resulting from her two brothers’ hunting and fishing exploits along Florida’s east coast.
Although Elsa was never married, her love for learning and teaching was passed on to another Lawson generation to enjoy educational careers. She was greatly loved by her family and friends and will be dearly missed.
We celebrate your life Elsa!
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