William Payne Lawrence

William (Bill) Payne Lawrence, 69, passed away January 1, 2022. Born on February 9, 1952 in Thomasville, Ga., he was the third of four sons to Lester C. Lawrence and Annie Abell Lawrence of Monticello, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Amy Kirkland; his beloved parents; his brother, Richard Lawrence; and numerous aunts and uncles. He leaves behind his two daughters, Erica Lawrence and Maggie Lawrence; brother Carl “Jabo” Lawrence and sister-in-law Anne Lawrence; brother Lester C. Lawrence and sister-in-law Elizabeth Lawrence; niece Lynn McDonald; nephew Hiram Lawrence; nephew Aaron Lawrence; several cousins and their families; three dogs and three cats; and countless devoted friends.

He was a Master Electrician for over 40 years, serving on major projects around the Tallahassee area like the scoreboard at Doak Campbell Stadium and expansions at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution, as well as the Mayo Building as part of his tenure with the Florida Department of Agriculture.

Educated by the school of hard knocks, he ultimately attended Lively Technical College to specialize in electrical. Decades later, he rounded out his career by returning to Lively for 13 years as a professor of electricity, where he won Teacher of the Year and guided hundreds of young people to careers in electrical services.

A compassionate presence, he was a purveyor of “side jobs” for neighbors, friends and strangers alike — often accepting no payment — for which he recruited a rotating cadre of motivated electrical students for on-the-job training as apprentices.

In 1998, he won medals at the National Quad Rolling Skating Championships before advancing to competitive inline skating. He taught his two daughters to ride bikes, drive a car, grow vegetables, bake cookies, throw a frisbee, and hammer a nail.

He was either in his workshop tinkering, fashioning massive windchimes out of rusty farm equipment or finding creative solutions for nonexistent home improvement problems; with friends and family telling stories; or on an adventure making new ones.

He skateboarded down the Blue Ridge Parkway, climbed lighthouses in France, paddled rivers in Canada, scuba-dived in the Caribbean, windsurfed at Shell Point, read Lord of the Rings in a tree, and rode his motorcycle around the veranda of the Jefferson County Courthouse.

He worked hard his whole life, wringing out its sweetness with every breath. He combed his full head of hair to the last day. He will be sorely missed.

A graveside service is scheduled Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 1:30 pm CT at Bayview Memorial Park and Cemetery in Pensacola.

A celebration of life will follow at a later date in Monticello. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of William “Bill” Lawrence can be made to Marine Toys for Tots in Tallahassee at tallahassee-fl.toysfortots.org.