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2018 SPECIAL SESSION I

18200147D
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 613
Offered May 21, 2018
Celebrating the life of Robert Lawson.
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Patrons-- Yancey, Mullin and Price
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WHEREAS, Robert Lawson, a respected community leader who helped build many of the Virginia Peninsula’s most notable landmarks as a co-founder of W.M. Jordan Company, died on April 11, 2018; and

WHEREAS, Robert “Bobby” Lawson joined many of the other young men of his generation in service to the nation as a member of the United States Navy during World War II; and

WHEREAS, after his honorable military service, Bobby Lawson earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) in 1949; he remained a proud alumnus of the university and an avid Hokies football fan throughout his life; and

WHEREAS, in 1958, Bobby Lawson began his long and successful career in construction, when he partnered with Bill Jordan in creating the general contracting firm W.M. Jordan Company; and

WHEREAS, responsible for all of the company’s jobsite construction operations, Bobby Lawson oversaw more than $15 billion in construction during his 55-year career; and

WHEREAS, Bobby Lawson had a hand in the construction of Christopher Newport University, Newport News City Hall, Hampton Roads Convention Center, the Virginia Living Museum, An Achievable Dream Academy, the Mariners’ Museum, Riverside Hospital, the Virginia Air and Space Museum, Riverwalk at Yorktown, The College of William and Mary Law School, and 14 local high schools; and

WHEREAS, Bobby Lawson also served the community as a past president of the Warwick Rotary Club, Peninsula Builders Exchange, and Associated General Contractors of the Peninsula, as well as a member of the board of the Bank of Hampton Roads and Central Fidelity Bank; and

WHEREAS, Bobby Lawson enjoyed fellowship and worship with the community as a member of First United Methodist Church in Newport News and First United Methodist Church in Hampton; and

WHEREAS, predeceased by his first wife, Betty Anne, and his second wife, Carolyn, Bobby Lawson will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his children, John, Bland, and Elizabeth, and their families; his stepchildren, Debbie and Laura, and their families; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates hereby note with great sadness the loss of Robert Lawson, a leader in the construction industry, whose legacy lives on in the many projects he helped complete throughout the Virginia Peninsula; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Robert Lawson as an expression of the House of Delegates’ respect for his memory.