Lawrence Carl Petrowski

It is with very heavy hearts that we share the news of the loss of our beloved Colonel on July 4, 2022. Lawrence Carl Petrowski was born in Queens, New York on June 22, 1944 to Carl and Sally Petrowski and grew up on Long Island, moving progressively further from NYC until his family's final move to Southold on the North Fork of Long Island. An outstanding student, after graduation from Southold HS in 1962, Larry attended Princeton University. Larry's years at Princeton, where he majored in Politics and began his military training in ROTC, were the defining years of his early adult life. He maintained life-long relationships with many friends from Princeton and remained a loyal Tiger, participating on the National Alumni Schools Committee as well as others for the "Great Class of 1966". Several family vacations included Princeton Reunions and marching in the infamous P-rades. Following Princeton, Larry attended Columbia Law School, graduating in 1969, before entering the United States Air Force, serving as a judge advocate on active duty from 1970-77 and as a reservist from 1977-1998, when he retired as a Colonel. His military ties and service remained extremely import...[more]

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to him and heavily influenced his commitment to volunteer work with veterans. Larry's last active-duty assignment was Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, where he fell in love with the desert and chose to begin civilian life in Phoenix. He built a solid and successful legal career as a founding partner of Storey & Ross and spent the last 25 years of his professional life as a partner at Stinson LLP specializing in commercial and real estate law. A lucky blind date at a 1978 Christmas party introduced Larry to Paula and culminated in 40 years of marriage. In retirement, Larry spent countless hours volunteering as Advisory Council Chair for US Vets-Phoenix, an organization that provides housing and workforce training to veterans in transition. He was also an active volunteer for the Hospice of the Valley Salutes Program, which honors and recognizes veterans in hospice for their service to their country. Despite the many career and education successes and accolades, Larry's most meaningful and happiest moments were those he spent at home or traveling with his family and closest friends, whom he loved deeply, fiercely, and loyally, and who were not ready to relinquish their hold on his physical presence. His absence creates an immense void in our lives, but we are lucky to have a vast cache of memories and stories that will comfort us in our grief and which we will revel in retelling. Larry is survived by his wife Paula; children Lindsay Petrowski, Lauren Petrowski Poses (Justin), and Grant Petrowski; grandchildren Runner and Paloma Poses; sister Cynthia Petrowski; and stepson Nicholas Kieffer. Gifts in Larry's memory may be made to US Vets-Phoenix, https://usvets.org/locations/phoenix/ 3507 N Central Ave, Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ 85012 or to Hospice of the Valley, https://hov.org, 1510 E Flower St, Phoenix, AZ 85014.