Lawrence "Pete" Maurice Harper

Branch of service U S Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 19
Rank
Entered service
Discharged
Birth
Died 3/28/2011
Buried

 

 

Mr. Lawrence 'Pete' Maurice Harper
As originally published on Wednesday, March 30 2011

Pete Harper died on March 28, 2011. He had been a resident of Glade Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation in Walkersville, MD for the past four years. He was 89. He is survived by his sons, Mark and Larry Harper and his five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. He was pre-deceased by his wife of 56 years, Marie Harper, and his daughter, Judy.

Pete was born in Brunswick, MD on February 5, 1922. He served in the Navy as a photographer with the Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 19. He worked for the C&P Phone Company for 38 years before retiring at age 56. Throughout the course of his full and gregarious life he has been involved in numerous volunteer activities. He was a big brother in Montgomery County and was on the board of directors of both United Cerebral Palsy of Montgomery County and the Mental Health Association. He was involved with the Mensa Society recording programs for the handicapped through the Maryland state prisons. He and his wife Marie sponsored two inmates through the parole process. Peter established a workshop for the blind and physically handicapped, sponsored by the Pioneer association of Bell Telephone Co. This was an eleven-year passion of his which provided repair for talking books and electronic devices that aided the handicapped. He also provided electronic and mechanical assistance to handicapped children at the Great Oaks Institution in Silver Spring, MD and developed a fragrance garden for the blind at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. For the past 20 years, he was a volunteer at the Brunswick Railroad Museum where there is a children’s playroom dedicated in his name. In the 1970’s, the Library of Congress awarded him Volunteer of the Year. He was a member of the Unitarian church.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Glade Valley Nursing Home for their kind and thoughtful care of Peter these past four years. Memorial services will be announced at a later date.