Peter Welles Lawrence
FALMOUTH – Peter Welles Lawrence passed away peacefully on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Falmouth, Maine.
Peter was born in Boston, the youngest son of Rev. Frederic C. Lawrence and Katharine Wylie Lawrence. He grew up in Brookline, Mass. and spent many happy summers in Marshfield, Mass.
He attended the Dexter School and Milton Academy before earning his undergraduate degree (1960) from Harvard College and later a master’s degree in city planning (1971) from Harvard Graduate School of Design.
After college and his honorable discharge from active duty with the Army Reserve, Peter worked as a reporter for the Worcester Telegram. He then served as a community worker and rehabilitation counselor in Boston. After graduate school, Peter moved to Pittsburg, Pa., where he established his career in community planning.
In 1977 he moved to Portland, Maine and often retreated to a tiny cabin he built on a small lake in the woods in Washington County. Peter became an integral member of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine (now Maine Woodland Owners), serving many roles, including Land Trust Council member, lobbyist, Board member, Board President, unofficial historian, and senior advisor. In 2015, he became the recipient of the first Peter Lawrence Award for outstanding service and dedication to the association.
Peter was the family historian, researching, collecting, and sharing stories of various ancestors. He enjoyed learning about these interesting characters of the past, some of whom he’d known in his youth and others he could only imagine. He was especially intrigued by Amos Adams Lawrence and his efforts to make Kansas a state free from slavery. Peter was the featured speaker at many family reunions where he entertained with amusing anecdotes and fascinating tales and inspired others to explore the past. He arranged for family papers to be securely donated to archives or passed along to the next generation.
He was a beloved brother and uncle. Peter was predeceased by three sisters, Katharine, Julia, and Marian. He is survived by a sister, Margaret Drinker of Hanover, NH, and his brother,, Frederic, Jr. of Brattleboro, Vt. Peter leaves eight nieces and nephews, Margot Stephens, Julia Drinker, Philip Drinker, Elizabeth Drinker Hopkins, Deric Stone, Molly Stone, Amelia Lawrence Darrow, and India Lawrence; as well as great and great-great nephews and nieces, all of whom will miss his good-natured sense of humor, his humility, his kindness, and his warm laugh.
A celebration of the life of Peter Welles Lawrence will be held in the summer before he is interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass.
