Mr. Lawrence Berchman Fitzmorris, a retired U.S. Army officer and veteran of the Vietnam War, passed away on Monday, Sept. 17, 2012, at his home in Newnan, Georgia.
Fitzmorris was a native of New Orleans where he graduated from Jesuit High School in 1952. He then received his B.S from Loyola University in 1956 and M.A. in Public Administration from Shippensburg University in 1976. He was commissioned out of the Loyola ROTC program as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Armor Branch and went on to serve in the Vietnam War where he was awarded numerous medals including the Bronze Star for Conspicuous Gallantry with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with V for Valor, and the Legion of Merit.
He graduated from the U.S. Army War College in 1976, achieved the rank of Colonel, rose to Brigade Command, and then became Commandant of the ROTC at Louisiana State University.
Upon his retirement in 1984, he remained at L.S.U. as Associate Athletic Director for Academics. Fitzmorris then moved to the University of Florida at Gainesville where he worked as Associate Athletic Director and later Associate Director of Admissions for Graduate Studies until retiring from academic work and moving to Newnan, Georgia.
Colonel Fitzmorris was preceded in death by his parents, Clair and Curtis Pursell, and his brother, Curtis Pursell Jr.
He is survived by his wife of fifty years, Ann Joiner Fitzmorris; his daughter, Lucia Cay Fitzmorris Woods; and son-in-law Douglas Woods; his son, Lawrence Craig Fitzmorris and daughter-in-law, Kristin Lyders Fitzmorris; and his grandchildren, Kathryn Woods Bartlett, Zachary Dane Woods, Preston Lawrence Woods, Lawrence Aidan Fitzmorris, and William Eric Fitzmorris. He is also survived by his sister, Gayle Clair Lockhart, and brother-in-law, Victor Lockhart; and his brother, Ronald F. Pursell, and sister-in-law, Midge Pursell; as well as a host of nieces and nephews.
After a memorial ceremony in Newnan, Georgia, Colonel Fitzmorris will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 21, 2012.
Condolences can be expressed online at www.mckoon.com .
McKoon Funeral Home, Newnan, GA, 770-253-4580
