Lawrence Norman Stein Service Information

Lawrence N. Stein “Larry”, of Washington Crossing, PA, died peacefully Friday, February 14, 2020, at Sunrise Assisted Living of Lower Makefield. He was 93 years old.

Larry Stein was a man who loved his life.  He loved it so much that he swore he was going to live to the age of 100 and he insisted that friends save the date to celebrate the event in June 2026.  Sadly, he did not make it. In his 93 years, however, he enjoyed enough love, laughter and adventure to satisfy almost anyone. 

He grew up on the Jersey shore in Neptune NJ with his mother, Eva, and his sister, Hilda, and an extended family that remained close to him over the entirety of his life and theirs.  He attended Neptune high school.  At 130 lbs. wet he was a starting guard on offense and defense for the varsity football team.  Despite playing with no face guard he somehow retained his good looks. 

In 1944 he enlisted in the navy and was admitted to flight training school. As the need for new pilots lessened he was told that the navy would send him to college instead.  This path meant that he would not see any action which was not what he had in mind. So, instead, he intentionally flunked out of the pilot program and was sent to train as a radar operator.  He was deployed to the USS Leary, a Gearing class radar picket destroyer with the most advanced radar gear in the navy at the time.  He sailed from Norfolk, VA, thru the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Ocean in June of 1945.  He was part of the occupation task force that sailed into Yokosuka, Japan shortly after V-J Day in August 1945.  He was forever proud of his service to his country. His USS Leary baseball cap, with the ship’s profile on the front and his US flag pin on its side, was never far from hand in his later years. 

A highlight of his recent past was an Honor Flight trip to Washington DC. He, together with 8 busloads of veterans, caravanned from Bucks County to visit Arlington National Cemetery and various war memorials in Washington DC.  On the ride home he was overcome with emotion as the 8 buses cruised up the highway and passed under overpasses lined with fire engines draped in American flags and first responders and local residents saluting the vets.  He remarked with true amazement that “all these people came out for us.”

Larry’s children remember him as a constant presence on the sideline of every sporting event be it football, lacrosse or field hockey. Their friends remember him as an adult who would really listen to the things they had to say.  As a result, the Stein house was a regular gathering place for his kids and their friends as they grew up. 

He had a creative side that was expressed through art in his early years. Later, he fancied himself an amateur architect drafting plans for various projects over the years.  He and his wife, Renee, spent many hours browsing through galleries wherever they went befriending gallery owners and collecting art that adorns the walls of their home.

Larry was a warm, caring, thoughtful, intelligent man, with a sunny disposition.  He had a marvelous sense of humor and a sharp, though sometimes corny, wit.  He treasured his wife, Renee, and was immensely proud of his children, whom he considered his greatest legacy.  He accepted others without judgement and his charming, affable nature put nearly everyone at ease.  People will remember his warm smile and his twinkling blue eyes.  While his life was marked by ups and downs, he never lost his optimism and his enduring belief that things would work out. He shed his light over those he loved and as a result the world is just a bit dimmer with his passing.  He will be greatly missed.

Larry is survived by his loving family including his wife of 33 years, Renee (Hinkley) Dawe, his children and daughters-in-law, Jeff Stein (Cathleen), Scott Stein (Anne) and Patti Stein, his grandchildren, Alex Stein, Sam Stein (Maddie), Tessa Dalmedo (Stuart) and Jonny Stein, his sister-in-law Angie Ritzman and brothers-in-law Ken Ritzman and John Stovall, as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, the son of the late Meyer and Eva (Schnitzer) Stein and brother of the late Hilda Klein and Elbert Stein.

Funeral services will take place privately, at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Lawrence Stein and Renee Dawe Endowed Scholarship Dakota State University Foundation, 820 N Washington Ave., Madison, SD 57042.

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