REDDITCH Lions Club have announced the sad and unexpected death of their President Phil Lawrence.
Lion Phil, who passed away on March 28, had been a member of Bicester Lions and Studley Lions, before joining the Redditch Lions Club in 2000.
Since then he had served as Club President on three separate occasions.
Despite living with the long-term effects of childhood polio and two major operations, Phil always put his best efforts into raising funds for Lions good causes like ‘Message in a Bottle’, solidly supporting events like the Lions Fun Day and the Halloween Fun Run, or simply helping others.
Brian Rich of Redditch Lions said: “He will be sadly missed at the club and by his family and friends.”
Philip John Lawrence – always known as Phil – was born in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire in 1943.
Apprenticed to Lucas when he left school, he later gained his Grad IMI repairing diesel engines.
He worked as a diesel development engineer at Lucas Automotive (subsequently TRW) and then at Delphi, until he retired in 2007.
He loved big engineering like the Severn Valley Railway, and miniature engineering like the table-top village he assembled each Christmas.
He also enjoyed painting and photography. Most of all, he liked a good laugh with friends.
Phil leaves his wife Mags.
His funeral will be held at Redditch Crematorium on April 24, 2017 at 2:45pm. No flowers please – all donations to Redditch Lions Club; these will be shared equally between the Rory the Robot Appeal and the Sleep Apnoea Trust.
