Lawrence Dykes' Obituary
Lawrence Dykes was born January 17, 1941 in Baton Rouge Louisiana.
Lawrence joined the United States Army, Airborne Infantry in May 1958. After entering the Army at 17 years old, he completed his high school equivalency in 1959 through the US Army Education Center in Schofield Hawaii and was discharged honorably in July 1964. He was in the United States Army National Guard Combat Engineers as a Construction Specialist from 1981 until 1983 as well as The United States Air Force Reserve as a Heating Systems Technician from 1985 until 1989.
Lawrence attended Wayne County Community College and Detroit University of Detroit studying Liberal Arts earning 60 credits between 1971 and 1975. Lawrence was a huge influence in the lives of his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews determination in being skilled and educated. His greatest lesson to those who would listen was never make any excuses for failure. If you did something own up to it. If you hurt someone apologize. If you made a mistake, correct it if possible. If it could not be corrected, after acknowledging your responsibility do your best not to repeat it. He never held a grudge against anyone or spoke ill of others.
Lawrence was one of the first African Americans in Detroit to earn his boiler license which afforded him the opportuniy to work for General Dynamics, City of Detroit, Parke Davis, Mistersky Power Plant and Detroit Edison as a Boiler Engineer Operator. He was so proud and didn't hesitate to bring his children into the boiler rooms to explain how the different sounds indicated proper steam operation. He later retired from the Atlanta Public School Sytem at Benjamin E. Mays High School as the School Plant Engineer in 2002. Shortly after retirement he returned to Detroit to be with his daughter and grandsons.
Lawrence enjoyed traveling, listening to country music and encouraging his grandsons to explore as many life opportunities as they could. He spent many hours taking them to airports witnessing commercial planes take off and land hoping they would become pilots.
Lawrence received his wish of being surrounded by family during his transition on February 8, 2026.
Lawrence will return home to be buried near his mother in Hammond Louisiana.
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