The Honorable Murray C. Lawson

The Honorable Murray C. Lawson, 89, of Mason City, died Sunday, October 7, 2012, at the Good Shepherd Health Center. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 PM on Thursday, October 11, 2012, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 120 1st Street N.E., with The Rev. Wendy K. Abrahamson, Rector of St. John’s, & The Rev. Canon Elliot Blackburn, Rector Emeritus of St. John’s officiating. Inurnment will be at the St. John’s Episcopal Church Columbarium. Memorials may be directed to the Murray Lawson memorial fund in care of the family. Murray was born September 7, 1923, in Fargo, North Dakota, the second child of Millard and Joyce (Berkin) Lawson. His elementary school was in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The family moved to Mason City in 1935, where he was a 1941 graduate of Mason City High School. On a music scholarship, Murray attended Grinnell College just before Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Navy Air Force in March of 1942. He didn't finish flight training, but became an aerial navigator, was commissioned an ensign and joined the aircraft carrier USS 'Card', CVE II as assistant navigator. Murray was discharged in May of 1946, and resigned from the US Navy Reserve in 1948, as Lieutenant (J.G.). He then returned to Grinnell College - graduating in 1948. He was employed eight years by Maytag Company in a sales position. In 1956, he purchased Klipto Printing, Publishing & Office Supply Company in Mason City. In 1959, he married Jean Cady, the daughter of Dr. Gerald and Julia Cady, in the First Methodist Church. To this union, there were two children: Mark and Julia. Murray owned and operated two businesses for forty years: Klipto Printing, Publishing & Office Supply, and Lawson Leasing Company. He was treasurer and director of the Winnebago Boy Scout Council, Director of the North lowa Fair Association, Director of the First National Bank, Chairman for the Retail Merchants Division of the Chamber of Commerce, President for the Mason City Rotary and Friends of the Library. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and Sons of Veterans of the Civil War, the D.M. Embassy Club, and Masonic Bodies. He was also elected State Representative for Cerro Gordo County to the 63rd and 64th General Assemblies of the lowa Legislature Chairman, and lowa State Job Service Appeal Board, Chairman of the Mason City Planning & Zoning Commission, and Trustee for the North Central Regional Library System and the MacNider Art Museum. Murray was a lifelong Episcopalian; he was an Acolyte, Eagle Scout, Choir Member, and Clerk of the Vestry and Senior Warden. He was an ardent fan of The Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and The Des Moines Metro Opera. As a legislator in Des Moines, Lawson wrote and managed the bill establishing the lowa Department of Environmental Quality to protect lowa's air and water, and to provide for residential and hazardous waste disposal. He also wrote and managed the bill creating provision for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) helping cities and towns to attract new business and industry through deferral of current property taxes, and aiding urban renewal of outworn sites. He wrote and managed the Local Option Tax bill to aid cities, counties and school districts with special projects and to reduce property taxes. In 1971, Lawson sat on the Senate-House Conference Committee which set the framework for permanent financial state aid to lowa school districts. Murray loved traveling with his family: The green forests in South Dakota's Black Hills, Mirth at Disneyland and California's cities, the sun and sea on Florida's beaches, London and English Cathedrals, and the highways and rivers of Germany. Murray is survived by his wife: Jean Lawson of Mason City; his son: Dr. Mark Lawson of Munich, Germany; his daughter: Julia Jugovich and husband Timothy of South St. Paul, MN; three grandchildren: Joseph Lawson Jugovich, Jessica Cady Jugovich, and Timothy James Jugovich, Jr. – all of South St. Paul. He is also survived by his niece: Pamela Richardson Ippoliti of Evanston, III. He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister: Jean L. Richardson; and his nephew: Jason Richardson.

Cemetery:
Inurnment will be at the St. John’s Episcopal Church Columbarium

Memorials may be directed to the Murray Lawson memorial fund in care of the family

Service:
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 PM on Thursday, October 11, 2012, at St. John’s Episcopal Church