Lauritzen, William C.

Description

William Christie Lauritzen was born on May 28, 1908, in Sandusky, Ohio, his father, Dr., was 46 and his mother, Florence, was 29. He graduated Sandusky High School in 1925. William completed his early art training at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and became art director for the Joseph Horne department store in Pittsburgh. In Rye his family lived at 346 Milton Road.

William enlisted in 1942 and served in the U.S. Army in World War II. During World War II, he was an illustrator for “Yank,” the official Army magazine for enlisted men. A staff sergeant assigned to the art department, he continued with the unit after the war to become a part of Slawson, Dawson, Hobbs, and Decker, a group of commercial artists in New York City.

He married Jean Phyllis “Phipps” Little Lauritzen on February 13, 1947, in New York City, New York. They had two children during their marriage.

As a free-lance illustrator, William numbered among his clients General Electric, R. H.

Macy, Esquire magzaine, and Bambergers of Newark, where he contributed to an innovative type of illustration aligned with the fine arts movement of the time.

He was a long standing member of the Huguenot Memorial Church in Pelham, where he served on the Board of Deacons and was a frequent usher. He designed logos for church bulletins and for the Huguenot Centennial Celebration as well as posters for special events such as Peace Sabbath 1981. A lifelong Democrat, he was committed to party causes both locally and nationally.

William Christie Lauritzen, a commercial artist and Pelham resident for 32 years, died Sunday March 14, 1982, in Londonderry, N. H., at the home of his daughter, Kyle Lauritzen Frey. He was 73. He was buried in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Lauritzen was survived by a son, Peter of Tesuque, N. M., a sister, Virginia L. Glenn, and two grandchildren. His wife, the former Jean Phyllis Little, died in 1969.

A memorial service was held at Huguenot Memorial Church and he was buried in Sheffield, Massachusetts.