Lawrence Louis Propp, Sr., 94, of Columbia, Missouri and a former resident of Russell died on April 1, 2011 at the Veteran’s Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.

Lawrence was born on May 24, 1916 in Russell, Kansas; the son of John Fredrick and Eva (Rein) Propp.  He grew up in the Russell area and graduated from Russell High School.  He worked for the county and played in dance bands on weekends. At the beginning of WWII Lawrence was drafted into the Army.  He served in the Army Corps of Engineers in the Aleutian Islands and on Okinawa. After the war, he fell in love with, and was united in marriage to Edna B. Schneider on July 24, 1947 in Wichita, Kansas.  From this union Lawrence and Edna were blessed with 3 children Ronald, Lawrence, Jr. and Cynthia. For health reasons he left his job as a roughneck and attended the Oklahoma A & M College School of Technical Training, receiving his degree in 1951. Lawrence worked in the dry cleaning business and was an employee that could always be counted on to do things the right way. He and Edna were members of the Lutheran Church. He enjoyed fishing and visiting, and after retirement, making wooden crafts; but most of all he enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his children and grandchildren.
 
Edna preceded him in death on November 24, 2001. He was also preceded in death by his parents, and his eight brothers and two sisters.

Surviving family include sons Ronald Propp of Roseburg, Oregon and Lawrence L. Propp, Jr. of Columbia, Missouri; daughter Cynthia A. DeKraft of Langhorne, Pennsylvania; 8 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

A graveside service to celebrate Lawrence’s life will be held at 2 P.M. on Wednesday April 6, 2011 at the Russell City Cemetery in Russell, Kansas with Pastor Roger Dennis officiating. Visitation will be from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. at the mortuary the day of the service, April 6th. Family will greet guests before and after the graveside service at the cemetery.  Memorials may be given to the Central Missouri Honor Flight or Good Shepherd Lutheran School.  Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.