LT LAWRENCE R. MENZIES, USNR
Lucky Bag Yearbook
From the 1959 Lucky Bag:
LAWRENCE R. MENZIES
Ninth Company
Coming directly from high school in the Windy City of Chicago, Larry soon realized what the service demanded of him. A good student with a natural ability to do the right thing at the right time and an ability to get along with people, he made the switch from civilian to midshipman quickly and smoothly. The more rigorous intramural sports, batt and company football, helped fill in his sporting hours at the Academy. His favorite pastime, when not engaged in sports, was enjoying music, his rack, and, most of all, looking forward to and planning for those short leaves. Always ready for a party, he really enjoyed the weekends and football trips. Larry’s ready smile was an asset to him throughout his four years at the Academy and will help him immensely in the Fleet.
Loss
Lawrence was lost on March 6, 1966 when the S2F Tracker aircraft he was co-piloting crashed shortly after taking off from Albuquerque airport, New Mexico. Three other reservists were also lost; they were en route from their base at Glenview, Illinois, to Los Alamitos, California for two weeks of training.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Lawrence graduated from Loyola academy.
He married Mary Joyce Shanles on June 20, 1959, at St. Athanasius church in Evanston.
In December 1960, he became a naval aviator at Corpus Christi naval air station and was then stationed at the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego.
He was survived by his widow, Mary Joyce; three sons, Michael, Mark, and Matthew; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence C. Menzies; and two sisters.
He was a sales representative for IBM.
From the April 1966 issue of Shipmate:
Those of us who knew Larry personally will never forget his smiling face, nor the cheerfulness which he carried with him everywhere. Larry was well known by classmates and friends for his good, clean, wholesome, and righteous character, he was always available to friends in need. He was a credit to the Academy, our country, and his family. We are all proud to have been able to call him “friend.” His classmates, friends, and family have all suffered a great loss. Condolences and flowers have been sent to Mary Joyce and the boys from the class of ‘59.
Lawrence is buried in Illinois.
Photographs
Related Articles
Daniel Stephens ‘59 was also a member of 9th Company.
Lawrence is one of 32 members of the Class of 1959 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
