Laurie Vaughan Atkinson, 95, of Huntsville, AL passed away Friday, 11 August. He was a father, husband, grandfather, great grandfather “Greatdaddy” and friend/acquaintance known to most as “Sweet Ole Laurie”. He was born in Dendron, Virginia on 20 September 1927 to Seith and Hylah Atkinson. He was of the generation whose ethics, morals, sense of commitment and patriotism were shaped by the Great Depression and World War II.
As a youth and throughout his life Laurie was a self-proclaimed “sports junkie”. In high school he played basketball and baseball. Football had been suspended because so many of the older boys volunteered for the armed forces (World War II). Later in life Laurie was a big fan of college sports and an avid tennis player.
After high school and still too young to enlist, Laurie attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI), better known today as Virginia Tech, to study civil engineering. He temporarily interrupted those studies to serve in the U.S. Army, participating in the post-World War II occupation of Japan. He returned to VPI and earned that B. S. in Civil Engineering; Class of ’49. Laurie utilized his education and continued to serve his country a short time later in the Korean War as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Years later, reflecting on that time he said it was the “best job I ever had, building airstrips in Korea for the Air Force; worked 24/7 in a “macho” world serving my country and seeing results of work unfold right in front of my eyes . . . completing badly needed airstrips!” After Korea, Laurie continued his service in the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Reserve, retiring with the rank of Captain in 1964.
In parallel with military service, Laurie continued his engineering career as a structural/bridge engineer with the Tennessee Valley Authority and a structural/design engineer with the Corps of Engineers in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Laurie then joined the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal as a defense weapon systems design/test engineer and progressed into increasingly responsible roles such as the Deputy Project Manager for the DRAGON (Anti-Tank) Weapon System and the Director of Product Assurance (known to his associates as “Mr. Quality”). He retired from the U.S. Army Missile Command in September 1982. Afterwards, Laurie was a defense weapon systems/aerospace consultant through 1998.
Laurie was proud to be a Hokie from Virginia Tech. He felt that the education he received and being a member of the Corps of Cadets were instrumental in his character development. He wanted to share that experience and his good fortune by creating the Laurie V. Atkinson Endowed Scholarship at Virginia Tech.
In addition to his parents, Laurie was preceded in death his wife, Billie G. Atkinson (2004); and brother, Harold S. Atkinson, Sr. (1997). Survivors include wife, Frances B. Atkinson; daughters, Stephanie A. Holland (Ron) of Decatur, and Patricia A. Reid (Bob) of Punta Gorda, FL; special son, Manfred W. Atkinson of Huntsville; grandsons, Anthony W. Harris of Huntsville, and William V. McNeese (Erica) of Huntsville; great-grandchildren, Jackson and Emma Harris, and Abigail and Stirling McNeese; and nephew, Harold S. Atkinson, Jr. (Barbara) of Raleigh, NC.
Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, 26 August at Laughlin Service Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Madison County 310 Board, 219 Jim Harding Way, Huntsville, AL 35806 (a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization). It is the mission of the Madison County 310 Board to ensure provision of a system of effective and efficient services to the citizens of this area who are diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability (ID) and/or Developmental Disabilities.
