Lawrence Hernandez

Lawrence was born in Los Angeles on August 10, 1934, to parents Librada (Montano) and Enrique Hernandez. He joined siblings: Henry, Manuela (Nellie), Robert, and Rey. Lawrence was baptized at Guadalupe de Los Angeles church in August,1934. His sister Henrietta (Shorty) was born 2 years later.

The Hernandez family lived across the street from the Aguirre family with the kids, Lily, Mary, Ruben and Beatrice, in East LA on Soto Street. Lawrence’s sister, Shorty, quickly befriended Beatrice (Bea) Aguirre. The kids from both families attended Hollenbeck Elementary where they were able to walk to school. Lawrence frequently mentioned he knew in elementary school he would marry Bea. Yet, their romance did not officially begin until high school. Lawrence and Bea were married on January 1st, 1955 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church with Shorty as the maid of honor and her beau, another neighborhood friend, Frankie Macias, as the best man. Frankie officially became family after marrying Shorty quickly thereafter.

Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Montebello where they had four boys: Lawrence Jr (Larry; 1955), Richard (Rick; 1956), John (1959) and Craig (1969).

Lawrence cherished his family and friends. He and Bea enjoyed adventuring with their kids and grandkids to Lake Tahoe, Bryce Canyon, and Sedona. They also traveled with their friends, Manuel & Sally, Willy & Pat, and Margie & Frank. The couples frequented Palm Springs, Mexico, and anywhere they could golf and explore.

Lawrence’s other interests included playing the ponies, bowling, swing dancing, playing cards, and especially golf. He shared these interests with his friends and family including swing dancing with Bea along with Shorty & Frankie. Lawrence enjoyed playing cards, some of his favorites were Backalley Bridge & Coup Fourré. His competitive spirit was always with him on the card table, but he always played an honest game even if his card-partner, Mary, sometimes wished he would cheat a little.

Lawrence’s chosen occupation was a machinist where he worked at Stadco making parts for the space shuttles. This required an enormous amount of dedication and precision to avoid any faulty parts. He carried this precision into other areas of his life; including how he crafted his Backalley score sheets and golf score cards. He continued with this line of work for over 50 years until his retirement in 1997.

Around the time of his retirement, Lawrence was diagnosed with bladder cancer. He survived this diagnosis thanks to the innovative research at the USC Norris Cancer Center and care from Dr. Yamada. This was pivotal in providing Lawrence with an additional 20+ years of life to enjoy with his family and friends.

Lawrence will be greatly missed and will continue to live on in our hearts. He is survived by his wife, Bea; siblings: Nellie, Robert, Ray, and Shorty; children: Larry, Rick, John, and Craig; grandchildren: CJ, Chelsea, Cora, Kristina, Ricky, Nicky, Brittney, Brandon, and Bryan.

To show our appreciation for their impact on Lawrence’s life, in lieu of flowers, please donate to the USC Norris Cancer Center (bit.ly/USC-Norris).