Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com

A Brighton High School graduate has been awarded the Brighton Area Historical Society’s Larry Lawrence Memorial Scholarship.

Five years ago, the Brighton Area Historical Society established the Larry Lawrence Memorial Scholarship Fund in memory of Larry who passed away in 2019. The scholarship is awarded to a Brighton area student who will be attending a trade or vocation school upon graduation. To date, nine scholarships have been awarded.

Larry Lawrence graduated from the Brighton Area High School in 1964 and served with great pride, bravery and courage in the 9th Infantry Division during Vietnam from 1966-1967. After returning from service, his career turned to the automotive industry. He worked at Car Kraft and Cars & Concepts where he was a painter for special projects such as the Boss 429 Mustang and the 1977 Indy pace car before opening Lawrence Auto Body in 1977. He proudly served as Director and Director Emeritus of the Brighton Area Historical Society. Larry’s passing in 2019 was a great loss to his family, friends, and the community he loved.

To honor Larry, the Brighton Area Historical Society established the Larry Lawrence Memorial Scholarship. The $2.000 scholarship is given yearly to anyone who graduated from a Brighton Area School and is furthering their education going to a Trade or Vocational school.

The BAHS said it’s proud to say that the award has been in existence for five years through the donations of many of Larry’s friends and members of the historical society. Through those donations, it has been able to award nine scholarships to students of Brighton.

This year’s awardee is Katie Nelson, a 2024 graduate of Brighton High School who will attend ATP Flight School. For the past nine months, she’s been working on her Private Pilot’s license and said her role model is her older brother who is a pilot for Spirit Airlines.

The Brighton Area Historical Society congratulated this year’s awardee and further thanked the Lawrence family, their many members, and friends in continuing to honor Larry.