Lawrence Avery

Lawrence John Avery, born September 26, 1948, in Heidelberg, Germany, passed away on April 10, 2025, in Cumming, Georgia, after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease and Diabetes.

Lawrence was welcomed with loving hearts by Howard Eugene and Marion Lucille Peterson Avery in 1950, emigrating to America and becoming a naturalized citizen in 1951. The family resided in Brainerd, Minnesota, and subsequently in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Davenport, Iowa, Tucson, Arizona, Sterling and Springfield, Illinois. In 1968 Lawrence joined the United States Army, serving in Vietnam for a little less than a year, subsequently stationed at Tripler Army Medical Center. Oahu, Hawaii, for the remainder of his service time. Lawrence met his wife, JoAnn Linda Berg Avery, in Hawaii in 1969, joining her in marriage on July 10, 1971, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Lawrence had a passion for baseball and most any sport or memorabilia associated with it, collecting, I'm guessing, thousands of baseball cards, and lots of other sport, movie, toy or miscellaneous collectibles over the years. His dream job was serving as general manager of two single A minor league baseball organizations, the Cedar Rapids Reds (Cincinnati Reds) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Burlington Bees and Rangers (Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers) in Burlington, Iowa. He also served as general manager of the Pulaski Braves rookie league of the Atlanta Braves in Pulaski, Virginia. His degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, was in education, so he did teaching off and on throughout the years. He also owned and operated his own sports memorabilia shop for several years.

Another passion was traveling. Lawrence and JoAnn traveled to Hawaii, Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean cruising, multiple times. He especially loved traveling with his children, grandchildren, sister and her family, because his very greatest passion was having fun and playing with the kids. He was a kid at heart, and always wanted to play and have fun.

By now you know Lawrence had many, many passions, but here are a few more -- he loved the Beatles and their music most of all, but always loved listening to the music of the seventies, playing records, tapes, cds or Sirius XM. He loved books -- especially books about sports or sports heroes, or history and geography. He loved getting in the car and just running up to the store - probably to buy a pack of baseball cards. He loved playing arcade games, both at Dave and Busters or at the local fair when it came to town. He loved playing catch in the yard -- he was always Brooks Robinson at third base. JoAnn was Harmon Killibrew at first base. Lawrence would also bring a stray animal home to live comfortably in our home, or feed any homeless animals he would see wherever he went, All that to say, he was not a sit around do nothing kind of guy, which made the onset of Parkinson's Disease such a challenge. It was a challenge that he fought without complaint, but with a little frustration now and then.

Lawrence was a proud veteran and a proud American, serving as the Commander of the Lawrenceville, Georgia, VFW, and always proudly displaying the American flag outside and inside his home.

Lawrence is preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, brother-in-law, Colin John Powter, sister-in-law, Catherine Marie Reed Berg, and loving parents-in-law, Judien and Henrietta Lorraine Johnson Berg. He is also preceded in death by his baby boy, Benjamin.

Lawrence is survived by his wife of almost 54 years, JoAnn Linda Berg Avery, his daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Danny Viti, grandchildren, Alaina and Nathan Viti, his son, Jon Lawrence Avery, his sister, Susan Marie Avery Powter, and his brother-in-law, John Henry Berg. Also surviving are his special nieces and nephews, Christine, Julia, James, Alex, Missy, Mikey and Vivian. His niece, Alyssa, preceded him in death.

Lawrence will be interred with honors at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia. If you wish to remember Lawrence in a special way, please make a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Vietnam Veterans of America, your local animal shelter, or any other organization of your choice. Or just give someone a smile or a dollar when they need it most.