William Laurent

LAURENT, William "Bill"
of Kalamazoo, MI Died Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans where he had been receiving hospice care. Bill was born June 3, 1926 in Chicago, the only child of Reginald and Irene Price Laurent. He graduated from DePaul Academy in 1944 and attended Bowling Green State University and the University of Notre Dame while on active duty in the Navy. He graduated from Bowling Green in 1948 with a B.A. in English. Bill was an avid outdoorsman and writer who worked for Hunting & Fishing magazine and Fishing Tackle Trade News in Chicago, and as advertising manager at the Shakespeare Company in Kalamazoo for many years. He also worked for the National Sporting Goods Association, the Chrysler Marine Division in Detroit, and BBG & W Advertising in Kalamazoo. He ran his own marketing firm, Main Street Marketing, before retirement. Bill was preceded in death by his parents and a son, Raphael, and by his second wife, Mary Ellen Davis Laurent. He is survived by their son, Jacob Paul Laurent, of Arizona. He is also survived by his first wife, Clarajean Roeder Crum, and by three daughters, Anne Kelly Laurent of Silver Spring, Md.; Elisabeth Michael Sochacki of Rockford, Mich.; Catherine Jordan Schau of Portage, Mich. and seven grandchildren: Andrew, Katherine and Jacqueline Sochacki; Emma and Dana Schau; and Patrick and Aaryn Zimmerman. Bill had a great sense of humor and enjoyed literature and the arts. He loved fishing and hunting, golf, card games, reading The New Yorker magazine and listening to public radio. Over the years he wrote many letters to the editor of the Kalamazoo Gazette on a variety of topics. He and Mary Ellen were members of St. Thomas More Parish in Kalamazoo for more than 30 years. A Funeral Mass will take place Monday, December 28th, 10:00 o'clock at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 421 Monroe St., Kalamazoo, Fr. Ken Schmidt presiding. Family will greet friends from 9-10:00 o'clock, just prior to the Funeral Mass. A luncheon will follow. Bill's ashes will be buried privately at Fort Custer National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Bill's memory may be directed to Spectrum Health Hospice or to our local public radio station, WMUK. Please see www.langelands.com for online obituary, register book and condolences. 269343-1508.