Lawrence Lavern Suiter, son of Lloyd Wesley and Laura (Cole) Suiter, was born on April 19, 1923 in Stafford County, Kansas. He grew up on a farm, with three older half-siblings, and one younger sister. The 1930s were a difficult time to farm in Kansas, with the Dust Bowl decimating crops, however new oil developments in Stafford County actually led to a population gain during the decade.
He married Onnabelle Weslee COOK on August 28, 1943 in Macksville, Stafford County, Kansas. She was a town girl, having grown up the daughter of a machinist in the town of Trousdale in Edwards County. Still, the two counties were neighbors in south-central Kansas, and the farm families could not have been a novelty to her.
Lawrence joined the US Naval Reserve in June of 1944, served as a Fireman (2nd Class) aboard the U.S.S. Rutilicus (AK-113), beginning September 1944. The Rutilicus was a dry-cargo ship, supplying the Philippine invasion forces. She called at a number of the Philippine Islands and assisted in the capture and occupation of Guam. After a brief visit to San Francisco for repairs in May 1945, she was assigned to the waters around Okinawa, Japan. She spent two weeks in September, 1945, stationed at Nagasaki, Japan, just one month after that city was struck by an atomic bomb. Sometime in the fall, she was ordered back to the U.S., and in December 1945, the Rutilicus was decommissioned. Lawrence was discharged from service in January, 1946.
Based on his time in service, Lawrence should have qualified for several medals, including the Philippine Liberation Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the Navy Occupation Service Medal. However, the National Archives is currently not taking research requests, so this cannot be verified.
While Lawrence was in the service, Onnabelle gave birth to their first son, Larry, in January, 1945. By March 1946 Lawrence has returned to Macksville, and two more children were born in the next two years. These children are still living, however, so will not be named here.
Lawrence disappears from published records after April, 1950. Next we find he was killed in an automobile accident on April 16, 1960, near Afton, Wyoming.
According to his death certificate, he had been working in one of the western oil fields, though there is some confusion about whether he was living in Montana or Wyoming at the time. The newspaper account indicates the accident happened in “the Narrows” about 9 miles north of Afton, where the highway borders the Salt River. A likely location is Highway 89, just before the Salt River empties into the Palisades Reservoir. Lawrence was buried in the Macksville Cemetery, Macksville, Kansas.