Neil Lawson
June 3, 1950 — November 5, 2009
Neil F. Lawson was born to Fred and Thelma Lawson, on June 3, 1950, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He graduated from Stillwater High School in 1968, the year that Number 75 helped the football team win their Championship. In 1969, during the Vietnam conflict, he joined the Navy and served on the USS Van Voorhis, as a Sonar Tech. After completing a four year stint in the Navy, he returned to Stillwater and earned his degree in accounting from Oklahoma State University. His early career was spent with the Defense Contract Audit Agency and Lear Siegler, Inc, in Oklahoma City. In 1992, he started working in the DOD overseas network and continued to serve in a civilian capacity for various defense contractors for 15 years, working in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt. In addition, during his time overseas, he owned a small restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he loved to entertain tourists and local expats alike. He returned to the States permanently in 2007 to continue the biggest challenge of his life, his battle with lung cancer. He had been battling the disease for almost five years when he passed away in his home on November 5, 2009. He loved the outdoors and spent lots of time hiking, camping, and hunting fossils in the U.S and the Middle East. He was an avid reader and animal lover. His sense of humor, and positive outlook on life will be greatly missed. He is survived by his wife, Teddy J. Lawson, Schertz, Texas; his son and granddaughter, Greg and Bailey Lawson, Stillwater, Oklahoma; his son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Abbey Lawson, Houston, Texas; his daughter, son-in-law and grandson, Lee, Beau and Aidan Murphey, Schertz, Texas; his brother and sister-in-law, niece and nephew, Kerry, Darlene, Kristina and Scott Lawson, The Woodlands, Texas; his Uncle, Richard Lawson, Stillwater, Oklahoma, and extended relatives and friends from all over the world. He was preceded by his parents, two uncles, and one aunt. Request any memorial gifts be given in his memory to the Lung Cancer Fund, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, or Hope Hospice, New Braunfels, Texas.
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