www.lawrencestanton.com
Lawrence "The King" was born on Monday 23rd November 1953 at Glen Innes District Hospital to parents Maurice & Eve Stanton and devoted Grandparents Rosie & Michael Stanton. Lawrence loved his Grandmother so much that he chose to live with her until the day she died. Lawrence was referred to as "The King" by his grandparents as this was the way they viewed him.
Lawrence was the eldest of five children, he had two brothers and two sisters. He and his brother Joe were often referred to as siamese twins. This relationship between the two brothers continued till the day Lawrence died.
Lawrence & Joe played together, ate together & worked together!
Lawrence attended St Josephs Catholic School in Glen Innes. School was often interrupted by family demands where he had to help his parents in the family fruit shop. This frustrated the nuns at school to no end so whenever he would turn up late they would send him home telling him to "Go and pack some more fruit boxes."
Lawrence often referred to his upbringing as disfunctional and heartbreaking. The only time he ever spoke about love was when he spoke about his Grandmother Rosie. This love was so deep that he named his first born daughter Rosie after her.
As a young child Lawrence regularly went "truckin" with his father driving to & from Brisbane markets. At the tender age of 14, Lawrence took over driving his fathers truck when his father fell asleep at the wheel, he proceeded to drive the truck to Brisbane markets while his father enjoyed his sleep. Lawrence was renowned for his exceptional truck driving skills.
At the age of 16, Lawrence was the one to find his Grandmother Rosie deceased in her chair.
The pain of losing his beloved Grandmother was at times so unbearable that he often wanted to die just to be with her.
Lawrence made a living out of driving trucks, as much as he loved the road he often complained about the early & long hours and the toll it was taking on his health. He knew no other life!
Lawrence had an infectious character, Once you met him you never forgot him. He had the ability to annoy you, make you laugh, would never stop talking and at the same time you couldnt help but love him.
Lawrence was a charmer with the girls. Unfortunantly due to the malicious involvement of his family, all of his relationships disolved, Including his marriage.
Lawrences ambition in life was to "Marry a lovely woman the best on this planet and have kids with her."
Lawrence always referred to the happiest day of his life as being Sunday the 23rd of January 1983.
This is the day that he married his true love and mother of his 3 children Sonia Maryanne Takla.
Lawrence & Sonia married after only 3weeks of dating. They celebrated their marriage at Our Lady of Lebanon Church Harris Park. Their wedding reception was held at Ryde Civic Centre with over 300 guests in attendance.
It was a night to remember!
They chose to have a driving honeymoon making there way up the North Coast of Australia stopping at various odd places that Lawrence knew but scared Sonia. Sonia's memory of their honeymoon consists of spiders, being stung by jellyfish & Lawrence wishing to die so that he could be with his Grandmother Rosie. Lawrence sure knew how to impress his new bride!
Lawrence & Sonia set up home in Glen Innes where eventually they moved into his Grandparents home
396 Grey Street, Glenn Innes. Together they had 3 children all born in Glen Innes
Rosie Zmourad Stanton born 19th January 1984
Laura Ann Stanton born 31st Januray 1985
Maurice Michael Charbel Stanton born 15th July 1991
When his wife Sonia was 7 months pregnant with his second daughter Laura, Lawrence & Joe were involved in a serious truck accident that nearly claimed both their lives. Lawrence suffered severe head injuries which caused him excruciating and at times unbearable migraines. Lawrences iradicial behaviour due to these migraines put a major strain on his family life.
Lawrence & Sonia's love must have been so strong and deep for the marriage to have lasted 19 years. Away from Lawrences controlling & manipulative family members they had a very peaceful and loving relationship. Unfortunately for Lawrence he was easily influenced by his manipulative and distructive mother and sister, always interferring in his relationship with Sonia. His biggest regret in life was that he never allowed his marriage to be "US" He and Sonia.
The marriage ended in 2002.
This was a major turning point in Lawrences life. He realised his wrong doings and in his darkest time found God.
Lawrence began to make positive changes in his life especially towards his family.
He now realised the importance of putting his family first before himself. In doing this for the first time in his life he began to learn more about each of his children and fostered a loving and special relationship with each one of them.
His relationship and love for his children brought him great comfort and joy and often gave him the will to live.
Lawrence struggled with the divorce and losing Sonia.
He received a lot of counselling and with the loving support of his Mum & Dad (Sonia's Parents) for the first time ever he was able to deal with his distructive and heartbreaking upbringing, become accountable for his actions and discover who he really is and wants to be.
Lawrence now loved the "New Laurie Stanton" and so did everybody who knew and loved him.
Lawrence and Sonia, even though were divorced always remained the best of friends. They spent more time together when they were divorced then when they were married!!
Lawrence was never a lazy person and the best provider one could ever be.
In the last couple of years before he passed away Lawrence's desire and ambition was to renovate the family home so that Sonia and the children would have a beautiful house to live in. He successfully did this.
The week before he passed away on Sunday the 20th July 2008 he was at Randwick racecourse celebrating the Papal Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. This experience brought him immense comfort and happiness knowning that he was close to God.
The following Sunday on the 27th July 2008, Lawrence died of a massive heart attack at approximately 7:30am whilst having a weekend away in beautiful, sunny Port Douglas.
His funeral was held on Monday the 4th of August at Our Lady of Lebanon Church Harris Park where his family and friends gathered to celebrate his life and bid their final farewells.
We are comforted to know that Lawrence is with his God and once again reunited and in the loving arms of his Grandmother Rosie.
Lawrence was the eldest of five children, he had two brothers and two sisters. He and his brother Joe were often referred to as siamese twins. This relationship between the two brothers continued till the day Lawrence died.
Lawrence & Joe played together, ate together & worked together!
Lawrence attended St Josephs Catholic School in Glen Innes. School was often interrupted by family demands where he had to help his parents in the family fruit shop. This frustrated the nuns at school to no end so whenever he would turn up late they would send him home telling him to "Go and pack some more fruit boxes."
Lawrence often referred to his upbringing as disfunctional and heartbreaking. The only time he ever spoke about love was when he spoke about his Grandmother Rosie. This love was so deep that he named his first born daughter Rosie after her.
As a young child Lawrence regularly went "truckin" with his father driving to & from Brisbane markets. At the tender age of 14, Lawrence took over driving his fathers truck when his father fell asleep at the wheel, he proceeded to drive the truck to Brisbane markets while his father enjoyed his sleep. Lawrence was renowned for his exceptional truck driving skills.
At the age of 16, Lawrence was the one to find his Grandmother Rosie deceased in her chair.
The pain of losing his beloved Grandmother was at times so unbearable that he often wanted to die just to be with her.
Lawrence made a living out of driving trucks, as much as he loved the road he often complained about the early & long hours and the toll it was taking on his health. He knew no other life!
Lawrence had an infectious character, Once you met him you never forgot him. He had the ability to annoy you, make you laugh, would never stop talking and at the same time you couldnt help but love him.
Lawrence was a charmer with the girls. Unfortunantly due to the malicious involvement of his family, all of his relationships disolved, Including his marriage.
Lawrences ambition in life was to "Marry a lovely woman the best on this planet and have kids with her."
Lawrence always referred to the happiest day of his life as being Sunday the 23rd of January 1983.
This is the day that he married his true love and mother of his 3 children Sonia Maryanne Takla.
Lawrence & Sonia married after only 3weeks of dating. They celebrated their marriage at Our Lady of Lebanon Church Harris Park. Their wedding reception was held at Ryde Civic Centre with over 300 guests in attendance.
It was a night to remember!
They chose to have a driving honeymoon making there way up the North Coast of Australia stopping at various odd places that Lawrence knew but scared Sonia. Sonia's memory of their honeymoon consists of spiders, being stung by jellyfish & Lawrence wishing to die so that he could be with his Grandmother Rosie. Lawrence sure knew how to impress his new bride!
Lawrence & Sonia set up home in Glen Innes where eventually they moved into his Grandparents home
396 Grey Street, Glenn Innes. Together they had 3 children all born in Glen Innes
Rosie Zmourad Stanton born 19th January 1984
Laura Ann Stanton born 31st Januray 1985
Maurice Michael Charbel Stanton born 15th July 1991
When his wife Sonia was 7 months pregnant with his second daughter Laura, Lawrence & Joe were involved in a serious truck accident that nearly claimed both their lives. Lawrence suffered severe head injuries which caused him excruciating and at times unbearable migraines. Lawrences iradicial behaviour due to these migraines put a major strain on his family life.
Lawrence & Sonia's love must have been so strong and deep for the marriage to have lasted 19 years. Away from Lawrences controlling & manipulative family members they had a very peaceful and loving relationship. Unfortunately for Lawrence he was easily influenced by his manipulative and distructive mother and sister, always interferring in his relationship with Sonia. His biggest regret in life was that he never allowed his marriage to be "US" He and Sonia.
The marriage ended in 2002.
This was a major turning point in Lawrences life. He realised his wrong doings and in his darkest time found God.
Lawrence began to make positive changes in his life especially towards his family.
He now realised the importance of putting his family first before himself. In doing this for the first time in his life he began to learn more about each of his children and fostered a loving and special relationship with each one of them.
His relationship and love for his children brought him great comfort and joy and often gave him the will to live.
Lawrence struggled with the divorce and losing Sonia.
He received a lot of counselling and with the loving support of his Mum & Dad (Sonia's Parents) for the first time ever he was able to deal with his distructive and heartbreaking upbringing, become accountable for his actions and discover who he really is and wants to be.
Lawrence now loved the "New Laurie Stanton" and so did everybody who knew and loved him.
Lawrence and Sonia, even though were divorced always remained the best of friends. They spent more time together when they were divorced then when they were married!!
Lawrence was never a lazy person and the best provider one could ever be.
In the last couple of years before he passed away Lawrence's desire and ambition was to renovate the family home so that Sonia and the children would have a beautiful house to live in. He successfully did this.
The week before he passed away on Sunday the 20th July 2008 he was at Randwick racecourse celebrating the Papal Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. This experience brought him immense comfort and happiness knowning that he was close to God.
The following Sunday on the 27th July 2008, Lawrence died of a massive heart attack at approximately 7:30am whilst having a weekend away in beautiful, sunny Port Douglas.
His funeral was held on Monday the 4th of August at Our Lady of Lebanon Church Harris Park where his family and friends gathered to celebrate his life and bid their final farewells.
We are comforted to know that Lawrence is with his God and once again reunited and in the loving arms of his Grandmother Rosie.