William Lawrence "Larry" Claxton
Class of 1944

William Lawrence "Larry" Claxton

Died May 29, 2017 Artesia Home, Age 90

He was predeceased by parents Warren & Angie Claxton and his wife Joan

Larry graduated from Cradock with the Class of 1944, and was President of the 1944 Senior class and also Editor of the 1944 Cradock annual, the school's yearbook..

He served US Navy as an air crew member in World War ll in the South Pacific Theater and later Graduated from Oregon State Univ. in 1951 with degree in Pharmacy

Mr. Claxton is survived by daughter Sharon and her family and son Randy and his family. Had six grandchildren and one great granddaughter

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held for Larry on Thursday July 13th at 11 am at First Christian Reformed Church at 18411 Alburtis Ave, Artesia Ca 90701

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Larry's family was one of the first residents of Williams Court. His dad was career Navy and his ship was transferred from San Diego to Norfolk in the spring of 1942, and made their home in the Cradock Community of Williams Court..

In no time Larry with his winning personality became popular with his classmates and well liked as a new comer. The Class of 1944 elected him as its President and he also served the student body as the Chief Editor of the Admiral, Cradock's Yearbook.

After his 1944 high school graduation, he served for 2 years as an air crewman in the Navy. He attended Oregon State University and graduated with a degree in Pharmacy in 1950. He enjoyed a long career as a pharmacist with a major drug company i his later years. Folks at work called him, "Doc. Larry".

In his early career Larry established, owned and operated his own drug store for a number years but sold out that business and went to work for years with a large local drugstore.

He married a local Portsmouth area girl, Joan, in 1953. They had two children, Sharon and Randy. Both of them married and had two children each which made Larry the proud grandfather of four California grandchildren. In later years they Claxton's made several trips to Cradock to attend Homecomings.

Early in this century the Claxton's moved into Artesia Christian Home an assisted living place near their daughter in Los Angeles. Joan died and Larry began a long, slow decline with health problems. He was bedridden for the past year year and had a very difficult time communicating with his Cradock pals by telephone.

Larry was cremated and will be buried next to his wife in a beautiful cemetery overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Harley Affeldt his high school pal of three quarters of a century told us that he had sent emails to 7 classmates who live all over the country informing them of Larry's death.