Warren C. Lawler

Framingham – Mr. Warren C. Lawler, of Framingham, died Saturday, June 9, 2012 at Oak Knoll Health Care Center in Framingham. He was 91.

Warren was born in Newton on October 31, 1920, a son of the late James and Priscilla (Hargreaves) Lawler. He was raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of Waltham and graduated from Waltham Vocational High School in 1938.

In early 1942 he joined the United States Army and served with the 744th Field Artillery Battalion. Warren's unit was sent to Europe following the invasion in 1944 where he participated in the Rhineland Campaign.

He survived the infamous Battle of the Bulge during the harsh European winter of 1944-45 only to be wounded by shrapnel from a landmine on March 21, 1945, a little more than a month before the Nazi surrender. The wounds he suffered in the explosion earned him a Purple Heart and a stretcher ride back to England. During their long march into Germany Allied forces faced a determined enemy. American troops pushed to the banks of the Rhine River in March, 1945 and held an unbroken line from Arnhem to Switzerland. They crossed into Germany en masse in late March ensuring the victory that came on May 8th. Along the way the soldiers encountered a blistering array of defenses including well concealed machine gun 'pill-boxes' and miles and miles of minefields. It was in one of those minefields that Warren nearly lost his life on the last 'official' day of the Rhineland Campaign. March 22nd marked the beginning of what would be called the Battle for Central Europe.

Warren was discharged from the Army eight months later at Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania and came home to Waltham to recuperate. In 1947 he married his sweetheart, Dorothy J. Pulsifer, a Watertown native, in Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church in Waltham. The couple settled in Waltham where they raised their family and following retirement moved to South Yarmouth where they lived for twenty-five years. They moved to Framingham five years ago.

Until his retirement Warren worked for more than twenty years as a manufacturing methods engineer for R.C.A. in Burlington and before that worked for the Raytheon Company. He belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 6293 in South Yarmouth and the Disabled American Veterans. His hobbies included bowling and as an amateur carpenter he built doll houses for members of his family and for the V.F.W. Post to raise money at their annual summer fundraiser on the Cape.

In addition to his wife of 64 years, Dorothy, he leaves his children, Beverly A. Giblin and her husband, James, of Canton, William A. Lawler and his wife, Kathleen, of Ashland and Bruce E. Lawler and his wife, Rosemarie, of Chelmsford; his grandchildren, Timothy Giblin, Bethany Jablonski, Alyssa Lawler, Melinda Neyland, Kerry McInerny and William Lawler, Jr.; his great-grandchildren, Jack McInerny, Connor Neyland and Ryen Jablonski and several nieces and nephews.

Warren was also a brother of the late Doris Killian, James Lawler, Evelyn Linehan and Eunice McIver.

Family and friends will honor and remember Warren's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Tuesday, June 12th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne.

Memorial donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.