Obituary of Inger M Lawson

Inger M Lawson passed away on October 28, 2020. Inger (Olson) was born on New Year’s Eve in Goteborg, Sweden. She received her BA and MBA in her hometown. As she told it she had a happy childhood, spending summers playing golf and swimming and sunbathing with her sister, her mother and friends. She became an accomplished golfer and as a promising junior, was sent to a golf training camp for 6 weeks by the Swedish Golf Association. The war years were difficult and she longed to see the world, primarily USA. After a long wait for an immigration visa, she set sail on April 1, 1949 for Boston, where she had family. After 2 weeks she was fortunate to get a position at Harvard Medical School as a secretary to one of the University Professors. Her German language knowledge and knowledge of Latin stood in her good stead for the next 4 years, working for Dr. George Wald, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. At symposiums at Harvard she met many of the influential persons of the era, e.g. George Marshall, then head of the Red Cross; Harold Snyder, Head of Public Health; and the Cabot Lodges, among others. It was an interesting time. She married her first husband, Elmer (Andy) Renstierna Anderson in Sweden on Jan. 11, 1950 and they settled in his hometown of Arlington, Mass. After he finished his schooling at B.U. and Harvard Business School, they moved away from Boston, working for Proctor and Gamble in Overseas Advertising and living in, among other places, Toronto and Mexico City. Back in the States, they lived in Pearl River, N.Y. and then for over 20 years, in Stamford, C.T., spending as much free time as they could in Pine Acres, N.H. where the family had a home. Inger and Andy adopted their 2 children, Robert and Lauren as infants and had a happy life until Robert died at the age of 13 in a car accident. Inger was badly hurt in the accident and life for the family was never the same. Inger spent her time as a member of the Shakespeare Guild and American Garden Club, a secretary for the Stamford Republican Club and a hospitality chairperson for the Rural Republican Women. She eventually took a job as a travel agent, which to her, seemed like a window to the world. When her husband became ill, they moved to the house in New Hampshire, where he died of malignant meningioma. Inger worked in Southport, C.T. as a travel agent and married her friend, James A. Ford. They lived in Fairfield, C.T. until they retired and followed their friends, Jo and Bill Donaldson to Punta Gorda, FL, where they joined and became active in what was then called the Burnt Store Country Club and tremendously enjoyed their life there and in their cottage on Pelican Lake. Jim’s life ended suddenly 2004, when he died of a heart attack. Inger married Russell June, but he very sadly died from a fall as they were leaving for a 3 week cruise to the Amazon on April 27, 2006. She married Charles H. Lawson on July 11, 2008. Inger is survived by her husband, Charles; daughter, Lauren (Tim) Gully; grandchildren, Tyler and Cameron; stepson, James Lawson and his partner, John Wright, sister, Kate Swegmark of Sweden and her daughters, Ingrid, Karin, and Ebba Swegmark; and Inger’s cousin, Roberta (Ed) Lindquist and her children Inger and Stan Lindquist.