Rev. Robert T. Lawson
Deceased: 2008-11-19
Diocese: RALEIGH
ICTE Spring: 1989
PINEHURST — The Rev. Robert T. Lawson, 84, died Wednesday in Pinehurst.
Reception of the Body will be held on Sunday at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst at 3 p.m. with the Rev. William L. Pitts and the Rev. James M. Labosky. A vigil for the Deceased will be held at 4 p.m. with Father David Brockman, Vicar General Diocese of Raleigh and the homily will be given by Monsignor Jeffrey A. Ingham, Dean of Fayetteville Deanery. The Prayer of the Holy Rosary will be held at 6 p.m. with Father Marcos Leon, State Chaplain for N.C. Knights of Columbus.
The Funeral Mass will be held on Monday at 11 a.m. at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst with the most Rev. Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Raleigh as Principal Celebrant and the most Rev. F. Joseph Gossman, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Raleigh as Principal Con-Celebrant.
A reception will follow the Mass at Sacred Heart in Founders Hall. Burial will take place at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Goldsboro following the service.
He was born in Goldsboro on Dec. 9, 1923, to Thomas J. Lawson and Gladys Burnette (Wilson) Lawson.
He attended Catholic University of America. Before entering the seminary to study for the Diocese of Raleigh, Father Lawson was a Xaverian Brother. He studied for the priesthood at St. John Seminary in Brighton, Mass., and was ordained a Catholic Priest for the Diocese of Raleigh on the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, Feb. 2, 1962, at Immaculate Conception Church in Durham. He actively served as a priest of the Raleigh Diocese for 46 years even after his retirement in 1999.
During his priestly life, Father Lawson served in many ministries in the Diocese. He served as co-ordinator of William Gaston Catholic High School in New Bern, Chaplain at Pembroke State College and St. Andrews College, coordinator of Our Lady of the Hills Camp in Hendersonville, Diocesan Director of CCD, Superintendent of Schools, administrator of Cardinal Gibbons High School, Diocesan Director of Cursillo and Charismatic Prayer Group and served as advocate for the Diocesan Tribunal.
Father Lawson’s ministerial assignments in the Diocese of Raleigh included, Christ the King, Kings Mountain (now part of the Diocese of Charlotte); Our Lady of Lourdes, Raleigh; Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh; St. Mary, Laurinburg; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Newton Grove; St. Mary, Garner; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rocky Mount; St. Mary, Goldsboro; and Sacred Heart, Pinehurst where he retired as pastor emeritus in 1999.
Father Lawson was a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus and served as the State Chaplain to the Knights of Columbus in North Carolina.
He also served his community as a Catholic Priest as a member of Lion’s Club International, where he served as District J Governor in North Carolina.
He is survived by two sisters, Marie Lawson Jernigan and husband, Sam Jr., of Goldsboro; and Dolores Lawson Harris and husband, Jack, of San Francisco, Calif.; three brothers, John Walter Lawson, of Clemson, S.C.; Father Joseph Douglas Lawson, of Southport; and Mark Edward Lawson, of Asheville and a host of nieces and nephews also survive him.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions should be directed to Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, P.O. Box 1768, Pinehurst, N.C. 28370.
