Walter T. Laws – Captain, United States Navy

From a contemporary news report:

Walter T. Laws, 73, a retired Navy captain and former consultant who served in retirement as volunteer projects coordinator for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, died May 3, 1998 at Inova Alexandria Hospital, Virginia. He had stomach cancer.

Captain Laws, a Washington area resident since 1969 who lived in Alexandria, was a native of Chicago.

He joined the Navy in 1941 and was commissioned a naval aviator in 1944. He spent much of the rest of his career in aviation, including tours flying fighter and attack planes in Korea during the Korean War and commanding the carrier Kitty Hawk's air wing in Vietnamese waters in the 1960s.

Other assignments included tours with Air Force pilots in the mid-1950s, testing the new F-100 Super Sabre jet.

He received two Navy Commendation medals and served five years in the office of naval operations before retiring from active duty in 1974.

Captain Laws worked for Cerberonics Inc., a defense-related consulting firm in Crystal City, from 1974 to 1991. He retired as a vice president.

He received special superior leadership awards in 1996 and 1997 for his efforts in coordinating volunteer schedules for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.

His marriage to Bette Laws ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife, Anna Janetos Laws of Alexandria; four children from his first marriage, David Laws of Woodbine, Richard Laws of Ellicott City, Shelley Simmerman of Morgan City, La., and Patrice Murphy of Locust Grove, Va.; two stepdaughters, Mary Ellen Boswell of Dallas and Lynn Anne Rollins of Casco, Maine; a brother, George, of Robinson, Ill.; 14 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.


LAWS, WALTER T., CAPT, USN (Ret.)

On Sunday, May 3, 1998, at Alexandria Hospital, beloved husband of Anna Janetos Laws; loving father of David Laws, Richard Laws, Shelley Simmerman, Patrice Murphy, Mary Ellen Boswell and Lynne Anne Rollins; brother of George Laws. Also survived by 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services will be held on Thursday, May 28, 1998, 2 p.m. at Fort Myer (Old Post) Chapel. Interment Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Mount Vernon, VA 22121.

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