Lawrence C. Petrowski (1944-2022)
Larry died July 4 in the morning, surrounded by his family. Larry had been ill for some time, suffering from liver and kidney disease. Larry's wife Paula texted their friend and our classmate Tim Smith with the news.
Memorial Service
Larry's wife Paula and her children are having a memorial service to celebrate Larry’s life on Saturday, 7/23, at 12:45 - 2:45 EDT (Eastern Time) at All Saints Episcopal Church in Phoenix. Our classmate Tim Smith will officiate. Live stream here. A link to the recording will be available afterwards.
March 2, 2024: Paula wrote the following and included videos of Larry's February 7 service and burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
"We had a beautiful service for Larry at Arlington on February 7th. We couldn't have asked for better weather on that day -- a little crisp but a blue, cloudless sky, with all the military pomp that would have pleased Larry so much. His burial site is under a tree looking over the Potomac and the Air Force Memorial. All the kids were with me along with spouses/partners and Larry's cousin, Lynn, from Cape Cod. I have a good friend and former colleague here in Phoenix whose father lives in Alexandria. She went with me to D.C., and her dad hosted a luncheon for us in his home after the service. She, her sister, and her dad (a retired naval captain) all attended the service, too.
"I'm attaching a link (
click here) for you to view the service on YouTube. We were able to hire an outside contractor to film the service -- I didn't want to take any chances of losing documentation this time."
PAW Memorial
Larry died July 4, 2022, following a long struggle with liver and kidney disease.
Larry came to Princeton from Southold High, in Southold, Long Island, where he ran track and cross-country and played tennis.
At Princeton he majored in politics, joined Campus Club, served in Air Force ROTC, and was an editor of the Prince and AFROTC magazine.
After graduating from Columbia Law School, he entered active duty with the Air Force, serving from 1970 to 1977 as a judge advocate on bases in South Dakota, Guam, and Arizona. After active duty, he served as a reservist, retiring as a colonel in 1998.
From the end of active duty with the Air Force until his retirement, Larry practiced law in Phoenix. In addition to a successful legal career, he was active in several nonprofit organizations. He was especially devoted to Princeton and the Class of 1966.
In 2019 Larry received the Class of 1966 Locomotive Award for his decades-long efforts on behalf of veterans of the military services.
Larry is survived by his wife Paula, children Lindsay, Lauren, and Grant, stepson Nicholas, sister Cynthia, and grandchildren, to all of whom the class extends its condolences.
More About Larry
If you have memories or photos of Larry that you would like to share on this page, please send them to 66_CommTeam@tiger1966.org.
Scans from the Nassau Herald and several reunion books are below and are followed by tributes tributes from friends and classmates.
NASSAU HERALD
10th REUNION BOOK
50th REUNION BOOK
Classmate Tributes
Mike Spence
I am so sorry to hear about Larry’s death. He was a wonderful guy with a charming, slightly ironic sense of humor - which he needed, with about a third of the hockey team as roommates. And he didn’t seem to mind Canadians. I remember him always with a slightly crooked smile. Great writer with a keen intellect. Even then his friends could tell he would be an important part of many peoples’ lives. But Larry exceeded those high expectations with a life that included long and distinguished dedicated service to his country, his fellow vets, and his community. What a great legacy!
Brian Baker
Larry was one of my 7-8 roommates from Sophomore to Senior years. ... Larry was a terrific roommate: always busy, cheerful, friendly and humorous. I can hear his laughter now. Larry was reliable and open, concerned and friendly- I am not sure he was ever grouchy....And always an irrepressible smile and good word.
I am sure Larry carried all those fine traits through the years. He also fit in being the an Editor of the "Prince."
There were gaps in our communications because of military, distance, grad school and the like, but we always had fun at the reunions we attended with our other roommates. It was as if there were no time lapses....
We communicated much more over the last 7-8 years, many emails (all saved!) and terrifically funny telephone calls. Don't get me wrong, we both had serious sides and conversations, once we punched through the (sometimes hysterical) humor.
We always had a laugh when it came up about Physics 101 and 102. We became "lab partners," and as you may recall had to write up all the results of our experiments--Newton & Galileo-- Black Holes had not been discovered yet, only predicted....
The Professor who graded out lab books wrote in each: "You did very well, considering the lab partner you had...." Typical Princeton Professor humor!
In looking over a September 17, 2014 email to me, after Larry retired from the Phoenix law firm, he said in words to the effect, "Keeping busy with raising funds for the Arizona State Parks Foundation which I helped organize and for which I acted as a pro bono counsel for 10 years." Bravo, Larry, one among many of his activities and contributions to society, community, and the Nation, especially as a 7 year stint in the Air Force JAG program-- and then in the Reserves rising to "Full Bird Colonel..."
Larry never "bragged" about his accomplishments, as I recall. He just did them.
He was a good person, who accomplished good things, and remained a good friend. I will sorely miss him, his emails, his humor and his friendship. It was a privilege to read and offer Tim Smith's (remarks) on Alumni Day, February 2019 at our '66 Dinner when he won our class' "Locomotive Award." We saw many classmates and two other roommates Mike Peterman & Gord Park. A good time was had by all (especially including his lovely wife, Paula).
Larry Petrowski will live in many peoples' memories, not just Princetonians.
Michael Peterman
This is a message that Michael sent to Paula, who read it to Larry shortly before his death.
Larry,
As your roommate and friend for over 50 years I just wanted to tell you how much I have valued our friendship. I remember particularly our sophomore year when we were twelve young guys suddenly thrown together in Patton Hall. You came in with Burt and I came with Bob McChesney, and we settled into a special year of discovery -- of our roommates and ourselves. I think of you as a special glue among us all, always attentive to what others were doing and thinking.
I recall many events that year but I especially remember you taking me up to your home on Long Island one weekend. I got a terrible sunburn on the beach that day but that evening we went into the city to hear the Righteous Brothers at Delmonicos--that was pure heaven for me as a Canadian visitor. I vividly remember that event to this day.
Day by day you were such a kind and thoughtful friend that year and our two subsequent years together. You are among my best memories of our Princeton days and I hope you are still able to recall those wonderful years together. I think of you also as a sympathetic reporter on our hockey playing years.
Our later visits in Arizona (at Carefree) added substantially to my Petrowski memory bank. So too was the 2019 Princeton event when you received the locomotive award from our class. To learn of your humanitarian work with veterans in Arizona was most heartening for me. It confirmed your special generosity as a friend and a human being. I wish I could be so generous myself but you will remain a model of kindness and thoughtfulness to me as I carry on with my life up here in Canada and Nova Scotia.
Cheers, Your old pal, Michael
Tim Smith
Perhaps similar to what other classmates have experienced regarding friendships after graduation, my friendship with Larry changed and grew in the many years since our graduation in 1966. Before graduation he and I would exchange greetings in passing each other on campus, and I was aways deeply impressed by the significance of his role as editor of the Daily Princetonian. He was very open and friendly with me always accompanied by a dry, subtle, and genuine sense of humor.
After graduation we began reconnecting with each other on various occasions throughout the years. In the summer right after graduation in 1966 we ended up rooming together in an elegant house in Georgetown with classmates including (the late) Brooke Halsey, Willy Osborn, and Chuck McMillan ’67 (classmate Rick’s brother). The elegant house was owned by none other than Scottie Fitzgerald, F Scott’s daughter who had rented to Larry in prior summers. His serious demeanor, measured choice of words, and his earnest authenticity must have been behind her statement to us in the beginning of our stay there that she would rather rent to a house of Princeton men than to a group of young ladies! A surprising statement to my ears since I had always assumed that landlords viewed young ladies as being less prone to wild behavior than men our age. However, I attribute much of it to her respect for Larry over several summers in Washington!
Larry had already worked as the Congressional intern for Rep. Otis Pike (’43) during prior summer breaks from Princeton, and he spoke knowledgeably about Congress and federal governance. I remember looking at him as an old hand in Washington and felt sure that he was being groomed to be Rep. Pike’s successor in Congress!
We next encountered each other at Columbia Law School where he continued his superior writing skills as editor of Columbia’s international law journal. I remember on several occasions visiting him in his room in Columbia’s graduate student dorm and conversing with him as he continued to plunk away on his portable Smith-Corona typewriter while writing a seminar paper, munching on a pizza slice while chasing it with a can of beer, and at the same time engaged in watching a New York Yankees game on his vintage black and white portable television set. And then he could still conduct a focused conversation with me! (His passion for the Yankees continued unabated until 2001 when the Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees in the seventh game of the World Series. From then on he became an unabashed Diamondbacks fan!)
Afterwards, our paths diverged, and at later reunions I encountered him with his brilliant and beautiful wife Paula. He and I would share stories, and I learned about his career as a partner in a large Phoenix law firm and as an officer in the active reserves of the Air Force before retiring as a colonel.
My wife Ilia and I became fast friends with him and Paula. During past summers they would visit us in our condo in the Palm Springs area, and during the pandemic we would regularly zoom with them. it was during these times together that I learned about his active involvement and leadership in a non-profit organization in Phoenix dedicated to visiting aging and dying military veterans and presenting them with an American flag and other military memorabilia and then standing and providing them with a military salute as a high-ranking officer to express the deep gratitude of the American people for their sacrifices. Larry’s patriotism and his participation and leadership in this program over a number of years for which he received a ’66 class locomotive award served to comfort and inspire many underserved and forgotten veterans by showing them that their lives and sacrifices on behalf of their country were meaningful and deeply appreciated.
Larry was a special classmate and a dear friend, and it was a joy for me to have continued to encounter him (and later Paula) again and again since our days together at Princeton. To Paula and their children, Lauren, Grant, and Lindsey, we grieve with them over losing Larry and send our most profound condolences.
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