Warner, Lawrence M.
Birth
Lawrence M. Warner was born in 1921, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Warner, and the great grandson of Jacob Warner of Knox. His sister was:
- Beth Carney
Education
Mr. Warner was born in Detroit, but grew up in Middle Granville, where he was graduated from high school, and went on to Middlebury College where he was graduated in 1941.
Occupation
After the war, he worked 30 years at G-E in Schenectady, becoming manager of systems and programming in the corporate accounting operation. As mayor, he was a champion of Home rule and village planning and the rights of youth in the village. He was a General Electric Company executive who was also active in the peace and civil rights movements and in St. John's church.
Military
In World War II, he served as a B-24 bomber pilot in Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Marriage & Children
Lawrence M. Warner married Winifred (Win) Jones. Their children were:
- David Warner
- John Warner
- Gavin Warner
Death
Lawrence M. Warner died August 10, 1973 of cancer last Friday at his home in Prospect Terrace, Altamont, and was buried in the Knox Cemetery - Lawrence M. Warner 1921 - 1973
Obituary
19730817WarnerLawrenceMObit.jpg Lawrence M. Warner Obituary - Altamont Enterprise - August 17, 1973 WARNER DIES AT 52; Was Ex-Mayor of Altamont Village A memorial service was conducted Tuesday night in St. John's Lutheran church for Lawrence M. Warner, mayor of Altamont from 1965 to 1969. Mr. Warner, who was 52, died of cancer last Friday at his home in Prospect Terrace. As mayor, he was a champion of Home rule and village planning and the rights of youth in the village. He was a General Electric Company executive who was also active in the peace and civil rights movements and in St. John's church. Mr. Warner was a "home rule" mayor, believing that Altamont could govern itself and plan its own future in coordination with, but not in subjection to, state and federal aid programs. He spoke for this principle at a 1967 hearing of the State Constitutional Convention. His home rule administration developed a capital program for village expenditures and services up through 1990. The program is still, according to the present mayor, William Aylward, the guideline for village budgeting and planning. Capital improvements made in his administration included expanision of the sewage treatment plant and the water system. His administration also created a Planning Board and initiated a study that lead to the adoption of a village Master Plan for future zoning and development. Mr. Warner was active in efforts to conserve the village park and the old train station and later opposed, with the Altamont planning Association, the demolition of the Mynderse house. At a 1963 village board meeting, he spoke of the park area as a "Vital part" of Altamont's heritage. He said that while the board should be concerned with "day-to-day things like streets, water, sewers, lights, and meters," it should also be responsible for another element of living in Altamont "which concerns itself with homes, the park, trees, the station, the beauty, the atmosphere, the character of the place we live in and our pride in living here." While he was mayor, the village bought the train station for use as a village hall, and turned the old Maple Ave. Village office and firehall building into a youth center. His administration, in another youth program, brought inner city Albany youths, out to work with Altamont youths in a federally aided village beautification project. It also acquired the old Dietz property in Maple Ave. and built a tennis court on it. Mayor Warner resisted efforts to impose a curfeW on young people in the village. Early in his administration, he persuaded Edwin W. Sanford Jr. to become the first village justice, an elective, post in which he continues to serve. Mr. Sanford, who was mayor of Altamont in the 1950's, recalled, this Week the "tremendous job" Mr. Warner did as mayor. "I never saw anyone make up a budget as he did," he said. Before being elected mayor, Mr. Warner served four years as a village trustee. Mr. Warner was born in Detroit, but grew up in Middle Granville, where he was graduated from high school, and went on to Middlebury College where he was graduated in 1941. In World War II, he served as a B-24 bomber pilot in Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he worked 30 years at G-E in Schenectady, becoming manager of systems and programming in the corporate accounting operation. A plea-for-peace speech he made at the village Memorial Day ceremony in 1966 was reprinted in newspapers and later in a book, "Youth and War." Another essay, "Moratorium in Washington" which described his participation in the November, 1969 peace march, was published in an anthology entitled "Ten Fighters for Peace." After the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, Mr. Warner and others organized FACT (For A Commitment Today), an Altamont group that continues to work with inner city self-help groups. In Albany, he served on the advisory board of the SEAL Federal Credit Union and was a trustee of the Sam McDowell Bail Fund. At St John's church, he was a church councilman, teacher of the high school Sunday school class, and a member of the choir. Last year as chairman of the church's social ministry committee, he led a drive to "adopt" more than 100 orphaned children, mostly children of U.S. Servicemen in Southeast Asia, as a Way of celebratihg the church' 100th anniversary. He is survived by his wife, Winifred; three sons, David, John, and Gavin; his mother, Mrs. Earl Warner; and a sister, Beth Carney. The memorial service was conducted by Rev. James K. Hilton. Mr Warner had donated his body to Albany Medical College. Later, his ashes Will be buried near the grave of his great grandfather, Jacob Warner, in Knox. Instead of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Lawrence Warner Memorial Fund, Albany Medical Center, care of Dr. Martin McKneally, to be used for cancer research. Altamont Enterprise - August 17, 1973
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