ELIZABETH CITY, NC—Dolores Aileen Lawrence, 92, of Elizabeth City, N.C., formerly of Swanton, Ohio, died December 26, 2022, at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
She was born in Anthony, Kans., on March 16, 1930, to the late Perry Frieouf and Lydia Albert Frieouf. She and her siblings were raised on a family farm in Renfrow, Okla., that her paternal grandfather, Joseph Frieouf, obtained during the Cherokee Strip Land Run in 1893 after immigrating from Czechoslovakia. This property is still managed and maintained by family members.
After graduating from the Wichita Business College in 1947, she worked for a CPA firm in Wichita for several years. She met her future husband, Grady, at a church function and they were married on April 18, 1952.
She gave up her secretarial job to become a full-time homemaker, wife and mother. Grady’s job then took them to the Bay Area in California. In 1973, Grady’s job took them to Swanton, near Toledo. While in Swanton, the family started a honeybee business which they had for five years. Being the outgoing lady she was, Dee became involved in the Welcome Wagon group, welcoming new neighbors to the Swanton area. Many of those she welcomed became lifelong friends. She lived there for the next 43 years until relocating to Elizabeth City in 2016 to be closer to family.
Dee enjoyed sailing with her family in the Bay Area while living there, reading, traveling, gardening and researching her Bohemian history. She was even able to travel back to the Czech Republic on two different occasions and was able to visit with family members who still live there in the area where her grandfather immigrated from all those years ago.
She enjoyed cooking and was always searching for a new recipe. Her interests were vast and many but none more important than her family or friends. No matter what she was doing she always made time to listen.
Dolores was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Grady I. Lawrence; her son, Kevin Lawrence (Calif.); a sister, LaVona DeVore (Colo.); a brother, Gerald Frieouf (Okla.).
She leaves behind two sons, Jeffrey (Rhonda) of Elizabeth City and Irvington; Steven (Mary) of Tucson, Ariz.; a son by choice, Aldo Boitano (Claudia) of Santiago, Chile; five grandchildren, Fawn Wipf (Kevin), Heather Weldon (Chris), Charlie Fox (Chelsey), Ted Fox (Lauren) and Matteo Boitano Moyano; five great-grandchildren, Cassidy Wipf, Colton, Cooper, Callen and Emery Fox; a sister, Joan Adams of Tucson; and two nephews and a niece, Richard, Darwin and Patti DeVore and their families.
Dee’s dash here on earth from beginning to end was a full and eventful one and filled with so much love.
Burial will be at a later time at the Czechoslovakian Cemetery in Caldwell, Kans.
Memorial contributions can be made to The Tunnel to Towers Foundation or the Bethel-Emmanuel Scholarship Fund, 142 Old Bethel Road, Lively, VA 22507.
Twiford Funeral Homes, 405 East Church Street, Elizabeth City, NC 27909 is assisting the Lawrence family. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.TwifordFH.com.
To plant a tree in memory of Mrs. Lawrence, please visit www.TwifordFH.com/send-flowers.
