First of all, I am sorry for the delay in getting this news to you. But as many of you all know, my dad, Dallas Lawrence, has been battling cancer for nearly a year. This past Sunday, April 6th, Dad lost his battle with this disease and went on to be with the Lord. I want to personally thank each of you who have written me and told me at many of our singings that you were praying for my dad, me, and the rest of my family. I will be forever grateful for the concern you've shown towards me. My dad had been a Christian for over 60 years and had lived all his life to prepare for his journey home. Dad's funeral service will be held at Belmont Baptist Church in Morgantown, Kentucky, on April 10th at 1:00 pm. There will be visitation on that day from 10:00 am until time of service. Please continue to be in prayer for my family as we deal with our loss.
God Bless,
Darren Lawrence
Below is a brief history of my dad and about the life he cherished.
Dallas Oren Lawrence was born January 18, 1934, to Paul and Essie Phelps Lawrence. He was the oldest of four children--two brothers: Paul, Jr., and Billy Joe and one sister, Ethel Rose Lawrence McKinney. Dallas was the first one in the history of his family to graduate high school.
In 1952 when he was a senior in high school, a freshman by the name of Gladys Elaine Bryant caught his eye on the school bus. They began courting and soon fell in love. On Christmas Eve 1953, they were married.
From this union, a sweet blue-eyed blonde came along named Beverly Rose. She was born June 7, 1955. However, when she was two months old, Dallas was drafted into the Army. After doing basic training, he was sent to Germany. It was while he was there that the first of his four sons was born. Haskel Oren Lawrence was born September 26, 1956. Haskel and Beverly were just the start of Dallas and Gladys' dynasty! In 1957 Dallas returned from overseas to enjoy his growing household. On June 21, 1958, Patricia Elaine was born. Following her were Dallas O'Neill (June 25, 1960), Darren Glenn (July 3, 1966), and Hollis Leslie (March 7, 1968).
Hard work and church were a large part of the Lawrence family life. He maintained a family farm with the help of his four sons and later founded G & H Concrete Construction, a continuing successful business. Much of Dallas' work took him away from his family during the week; but he was always the patriarch in leading his family to church every Sunday morning. The children recall on Sunday mornings their parents would not allow the television to be turned on. However, southern gospel music could be heard throughout the house from Gladys' collection of albums. All the kids laugh as they remember all six of them and Mom and Dad crammed in their 1969 4-door Ford Galaxy! But they were always pressed and starched to enter God's house.
In later years, when the kids were all married with families of their own, Dallas and Gladys spent their time spoiling the grandchildren and great grandsons, fishing, traveling, and--of course--being involved in their church. Dallas taught the Adult Sunday School class at Belmont Church. Often Dallas could be found sitting in his recliner with a Bible and study guides to help prepare his lessons. He and Gladys also started the video ministry at Belmont.
Dallas leaves a wonderful legacy of faith in God and hard work. He always cherished his family by whom he will be sorely missed. However, through Jesus Christ, the promise of seeing Dallas again will sustain his friends and family during this time of sorrow.
NEW PROJECT FINISHED
Added: 03/02/08
The CDs are in!!!!! After what has seemed like an eternity our latest project, 'Home', is signed, sealed, and delivered. We hope it blesses your heart as you listen to the hard work that was put into this CD. For all you folks who pre-ordered it, thanks for your patience and be looking for your CD in the mail.
Mark your calendar for Friday and Saturday, March 14th and 15th. These are the dates of our Reunion/Homecoming. On Friday night our concert will feature past members of the Crossmen Quartet. This will be a blast as we will sing some of the songs from older projects and will have several combinations of quartets. Saturday night we will be singing along with our special guests, The Childress Family. These friends of ours are from Madisonville. We have sung with them on several occasions in the past and look forward to a special night. Both nights will be at the Butler County High School Auditorium and will begin at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $7.00 each night or $10.00 for a pass for both nights. Call 270-999-1649 or 270-526-0725 for ticket information. Hope to see you there.
Last weekend was an eventful one to say the least: Saturday night we sang in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and all went well. Before we got three miles out of town trouble began. A wheel bearing went out on us. Luckily it was on the bogey (an extra wheel for weight distribution) and not the drive axel. After about several hours we had the wheel off and the axel chained up so it would not drag the ground. We made it to Shelbyville, Kentucky, around 2:00 in the morning and got just a little sleep, since we were singing that morning. As we sat up our equipment and began to do a sound check, we noticed our mini-disc player would not turn on. All of our sound tracks are on a mini-disc. Luckily we found a few of our old tracks on CD that Mark and Darren knew (and some they did not know) and made it through the service. Boyce also played several songs on the piano to help out. What a weekend!
Please continue to pray for Dallas Lawrence, Darren's father, as he battles cancer. He has good days and bad days, but continues to have a positive outlook. Remember the family as well, as Darren's mother has never left the hospital or rehab since Dallas has been there (which has been about a month). Also we ask that you pray for our pastor, Roger Taylor, and his family. They lost their youngest daughter Tiffany last week. Tiffany was only 24 years old and had Behchet's Disease. Also remember her husband, CJ Pullum, as he deals with the loss. Another one we ask your prayers for is Barbara Flener. She is Boyce and Scott's aunt and Mark's mother-in-law. Her cerebellum in her brain is shrinking and at this point, her doctors don't know why. She has been battling this condition for several years and will be having additional tests in the coming weeks.
Our new website should be finished soon. As we mentioned before, nothing will change as far finding our site, it will just have a new look. Always check our schedule as we are continuing to add more dates. Hope to see you soon.
God Bless,
The Crossmen Quartet
Scott, Boyce, Darren, and Mark
