M. Larry Lawrence

Maurice Larry Lawrence (August 16, 1926 – January 9, 1996) was a United States Ambassador to Switzerland and real estate developer. In 1991, Forbes magazine named Lawrence among the 400 richest Americans and estimated his fortune at $315 million.

Family Lawrence was born in Chicago, Illinois to Tillie (née Astor, 1900–1970) and Sidney Arthur Lawrence (1901–1963). He was descended from Jewish immigrants from what was then the Russian Empire.

Education and early career Lawrence attended Wilbur Wright College in 1945 and the University of Arizona from 1945 through 1947. A biography entry for Lawrence appeared in Who's Who indicating he had graduated from the University of Arizona in 1947 with a bachelor of arts degree. The university said, however, that Lawrence attended classes there for two years and played varsity football, but left without a degree.

He moved to San Diego, California in 1953.

Real estate career San Diego millionaire John Alessio sold the deteriorating Hotel del Coronado to Lawrence in 1963. Lawrence's initial plan was to develop the land around the hotel and ultimately, to demolish it. Lawrence later changed his mind. During his tenure, Lawrence invested $150 million to refurbish and expand much of the hotel. He doubled its capacity to 700 rooms. He added the Grande Hall Convention Center and two seven-story Ocean Towers just south of the hotel. Lawrence was known to have to have claimed that L. Frank Baum wrote part of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at the hotel and that Thomas Edison supervised the wiring of parts of the hotel, neither of which was true.

Politics Lawrence's first involvement in politics was his work in the 1948 Adlai Stevenson II gubernatorial campaign in Illinois. He continued his political activities in California, gaining power and influence in Democratic political circles as a campaign contributor and fund-raiser. He was confirmed as ambassador in March 1994.

In 1994, the Federal Election Commission ruled that Lawrence exceeded a $25,000 limit on the amount an individual can give to help finance an election campaign in one year. As a result, he was fined $7,179, the amount of his excess contributions. In a letter to the commission, Lawrence said he was unaware that some of his 1987 contributions counted toward the 1988 total.

Personal life In 1949, Lawrence married Geraldine Slesnick, with whom he had three children. He was in his fourth marriage at the time of his death, to the former Sheila Davis from Brush Fork, West Virginia. They had been married since June 1990.

Lawrence had two daughters, a son, and seven grandchildren at the time of his death.

Questions were raised in 1997 about the life of Lawrence, and President Clinton ordered an investigation into whether Lawrence had lied about his military service in World War II. He was then buried in El Camino Memorial Park, Sorrento Valley, San Diego. Metzler and West stated that Lawrence would have qualified for a waiver for burial at Arlington because he had served as an ambassador.