Obituary for Lawrence J. Westwater
Westwater, Lawrence J., age 95, formerly of Billerica, passed away on May 1, 2020 of old age. He was the husband of the beloved, late Marguerite (Kelly) and leaves behind his son, Brian Westwater (wife, Laraine Garrity) North Andover; Nancy Brown (husband, Donald) Beverly; Carol Ward (husband, Craig) Bow, NH, and Susan Bullock (partner, Richard Burke) Stratham, NH (previously Nashua NH).
He was the proud grandfather of Dawnmarie Paradis, Conor and Keegan Westwater; Jason, Benjamin, William and Daniel Brown; Kelsey Nugent, Hannah Seraikas and Eric Ward; Natalie Kitchen, Kelly and Samantha Bullock; great grandfather to Donovan and Owen Brush, Bodie, Lola and Beckett Brown; Zachary and Alex Nugent.
Born in Boston, Larry was the elder son of the late George and Genevieve (Lennon). He is survived by his brother, Richard Westwater and was predeceased by siblings, Charles Westwater and Eileen Jennings.
As a young man, Larry enlisted 3 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and served in the Army Air Corp (4 years) and rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant. His skill with radar maintenance provided him an opportunity to fly as a radar operator. While stationed in the South Pacific, he flew 24 missions in B-29s, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Air medal, 2 Oak Clusters and 3 Presidential Distinguished Unit badges. After honorably serving his country, he stayed in touch with and frequently traveled to visit members of his 9th Bombardment Group.
After the war, Larry attended Northeastern University and began his professional career, which spanned 40 years, in Honeywell’s Aerospace & Defense division. Upon retiring in 1990, Larry enjoyed his leisure-time mostly down the Cape with family and friends.
As he was raising his family in Newton, he active in the PTA, enjoyed gardening and weekends skiing with his family. Larry was an avid reader and walked every day until he was 90 years old. He was known to keep family and others entertained with creating origami figures, sharing clippings from the comics and other informational articles of interest. He enjoyed a good cribbage game and taught his children and grandchildren how to play. Larry’s maternal grandmother (who died in the flu pandemic of 1918) was the sister of the Great John L. Sullivan (last bareknuckle boxing champion), otherwise known as “The Boston Strong Boy”. He loved to tell family history stories and impart his favorite motto – “Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe.”
Due to the on-going pandemic restrictions, there will be no funeral services. Please visit the on-line memorial guestbook, https://www.sweeneymemorialfh.com/. A private memorial service to honor and remember Larry will be scheduled at a later date.
Contributions in Larry’s memory may be made to Fidelity House, Memorial Donation Fund, 25 Medford Street, Arlington, MA 02474 http://www.fidelityhouse.org/info/default.aspx
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He was the proud grandfather of Dawnmarie Paradis, Conor and Keegan Westwater; Jason, Benjamin, William and Daniel Brown; Kelsey Nugent, Hannah Seraikas and Eric Ward; Natalie Kitchen, Kelly and Samantha Bullock; great grandfather to Donovan and Owen Brush, Bodie, Lola and Beckett Brown; Zachary and Alex Nugent.
Born in Boston, Larry was the elder son of the late George and Genevieve (Lennon). He is survived by his brother, Richard Westwater and was predeceased by siblings, Charles Westwater and Eileen Jennings.
As a young man, Larry enlisted 3 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and served in the Army Air Corp (4 years) and rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant. His skill with radar maintenance provided him an opportunity to fly as a radar operator. While stationed in the South Pacific, he flew 24 missions in B-29s, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Air medal, 2 Oak Clusters and 3 Presidential Distinguished Unit badges. After honorably serving his country, he stayed in touch with and frequently traveled to visit members of his 9th Bombardment Group.
After the war, Larry attended Northeastern University and began his professional career, which spanned 40 years, in Honeywell’s Aerospace & Defense division. Upon retiring in 1990, Larry enjoyed his leisure-time mostly down the Cape with family and friends.
As he was raising his family in Newton, he active in the PTA, enjoyed gardening and weekends skiing with his family. Larry was an avid reader and walked every day until he was 90 years old. He was known to keep family and others entertained with creating origami figures, sharing clippings from the comics and other informational articles of interest. He enjoyed a good cribbage game and taught his children and grandchildren how to play. Larry’s maternal grandmother (who died in the flu pandemic of 1918) was the sister of the Great John L. Sullivan (last bareknuckle boxing champion), otherwise known as “The Boston Strong Boy”. He loved to tell family history stories and impart his favorite motto – “Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe.”
Due to the on-going pandemic restrictions, there will be no funeral services. Please visit the on-line memorial guestbook, https://www.sweeneymemorialfh.com/. A private memorial service to honor and remember Larry will be scheduled at a later date.
Contributions in Larry’s memory may be made to Fidelity House, Memorial Donation Fund, 25 Medford Street, Arlington, MA 02474 http://www.fidelityhouse.org/info/default.aspx
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