Lawrence Eugene Foote

Lawrence E. Foote, Ph.D., 91, died at home on March 25, 2022, with his family by his side. He was born on February 16, 1931, son of the late Eugene and Mary Jane (Larrance) Foote at their rural Coldwater Township home. Early in life Lawrence was given encyclopedias to peruse and mark the passages he would like his parents to read to him. This encouraged his lifelong pursuit of learning, and he was blessed with a tremendous memory for things he read and saw. He attended a one-room grade school on Deerfield Rd., graduated in 1948 from Mt. Pleasant High School with participation in Future Farmers of America. Shortly thereafter, leaving his family's farm, he put an ad in the Hoard's Dairyman seeking work on more modern farms. He took the first of 90 responses traveling to Loup, NE in the great blizzard of 1948. He later was employed on another farm in Shelbyville, IN. Returning to Michigan he purchased 40 acres of land and worked it and helped his father farm. Enlisting in the U.S. Army he trained in Virginia and later was sent to Munich, Germany. In Germany he spent his

time training troops going to Korea. While stationed in Germany he purchased a Willy's Jeep and tried to see as much of Europe as possible. He returned to farming with his father and was encouraged to pursue further education with his parent's caution to use his background in farming and agriculture. He attended Central Michigan University and transferred to Michigan State University studying agricultural economics and weed control. In 1957 he went to Italy for a 6-month stay with farm families in different parts of Italy as an International Farm Youth Exchange representative from Michigan. He returned and graduated with his B.S. and M.S. He proceeded to University of Illinois, serving as a Research Assistant in a study of highly disturbed lands on Illinois highways, and obtained his Ph.D. in Agronomy, the study of crops and soils. He met Sally Anne Lind in Danville, IL and they married on November 9, 1963, and moved to St. Paul, MN to start his 33-year career with Minnesota Department of Transportation serving as Agricultural Engineer. In 1996 he retired as Chief Environmental Officer heading the Department of Environmental Services. In April 1997, following his retirement, the Federal Highway Administration gave Dr. Lawrence E. Foote their first award for excellence in a career of leadership in the area of environmental stewardship. Living in Oakdale, MN, Lawrence, and Sally raised their family of three sons, Will E. (Candace) Foote of Oakdale, MN; Col. Wade A. (Carla) Foote of Springfield, VA; Karl W. Foote of Mt. Pleasant, MI; and one daughter, Ellen M. (Foote) and A. J. Hacker of Noblesville, IN. He loved spending lots of time with his eight grandchildren passing on his love of reading, learning, and traveling as well as plant information and wise sayings they are to remember. The eight grandchildren are: Dylan, Emma, Beth, Matt, Anne and Jack Foote, and Sara and Rachel Hacker. Lawrence and Sally enjoyed traveling all over the United States and Canada with their children as they grew up and after retirement traveled to Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Israel, Malta, England, Chile, Argentina In 1996, Lawrence and Sally were invited to travel to Russia, Estonia and Finland with People to People, and in 2004 Lawrence was invited by China with a group of nine others from the Soil and Water Conservation Association to visit the Three Gorges Dam construction. Lawrence participated in many professional societies associated with his work and interests. In Mt. Pleasant he served on the Friends of Isabella County Seniors at the Commission on Aging for many years. He served as Historian for the Sons of Civil War group and related many Civil War stories. In Oakdale, MN he and a group of others founded Oakdale Active Citizens to get our property and others affected by a former dumping ground of 3M products declared a Superfund site. This was successfully accomplished. Lawrence was preceded in death by his parents and an all-important group of uncles, aunts, and cousins from the Larrance and Foote families and Sally's mother and her sister and brother-in-law in the Lind family. Lawrence's funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. Friday, April 1, at Charles R. Lux Family Funeral Home with Deacon Jim Damitio officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.  Following the funeral, all are invited to a luncheon in Lincoln Reception Center (attached to the funeral home).  Lawrence will be interred at the Union Cemetery in Freemont Township.  Memorial contributions may be made to the Commission on Aging.   Envelopes will be available at the   funeral home.      To sign the online guest book or leave a condolence for the family please visit www.CharlesRLux.com.