Courtland – Reverend Lawrence Stewart "Larry" Cameron, retired minister and shepherd to many, was called to heaven July 26, 2009 at Southampton Memorial Hospital in Franklin, Va., after losing his battle with COPD and Lou Gehrig's Disease. The longtime resident of Baltimore was 73. Rev. Cameron was born and raised in Baltimore on Sanner Avenue. A graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1954, he attended Gettysburg College and graduated in 1958. He completed studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1962, the year he was ordained.
His calling took him from Woodbine Lutheran Parish (Calgary Lutheran and Messiah Lutheran, 1962-1967) to Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Parkville (1967-1978) and finally to Grace English Evangelical Lutheran church in Lutherville ( 1978-1999). There, he was awarded the position of Pastor Emeritus.
An active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Larry served as Dean of the North Quadrant of the Maryland Synod and a member of the Synod council and Executive Board, where he chaired many committees, and served as a delegate to many conventions and church-wide assemblies.
In the community, Rev. Larry participated in the Cub Hill Community Association (1969-1971), Towson Area Ministerial Association (President 1985-1986), and the Assistance Center of Towson Churches (1985-1987). He was a member and past President of Lutheran Social Services and a member of the Board of Directors for Meals on Wheels. From 1998-2008, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Augsburg Lutheran Home, where he worked diligently as Chairman of the Development and Marketing Committee until the toll of his illness made continuing impossible. He loved playing tennis, sailing, and walking, though he relished most of all the time spent with family and friends. With him all the way was his loving wife of 50 years, the former Sally Sparks, a retired educator whom he married in 1960.
In addition to his beloved wife, Sally, he is survived by his son, J. Andrew Cameron and daughter-in-law, Karen Cameron (nee Ruhl) of Parkville, MD; his daughter, Nancy (Dianne) Cameron Vick and son-in-law Joseph Vick of Courtland, VA; his sisters, Nancy Elaine Purrington and brother-in-law, Peter Purrington, of Wilmington, NC and Margaret (Peggy) Potterfield and brother-in-law, Joseph Potterfield, of Baltimore, Md; his granddaughters, Sally and Marena Vick of Courtland, Va; his step-mother, Grace Cameron, of Baltimore, Md; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and extended family.
A funeral service will be held at 5 pm Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at Grace Lutheran Church, New Market Road, Courtland, followed by a committal service at the Vick Family Cemetery on Indiantown Road. The family will receive friends at the church following the committal service. A memorial service will be held at Rev. Cameron's former church, Grace English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lutherville at 11 am Saturday, August 15, 2009.
Memorials may be made to Grace Lutheran Church, 25280 New Market Road, Courtland, Va. 23837, or Augsburg Lutheran Home, 6811 Campfield road, Baltimore, Md. 21207-4657, or Grace English Evangelical Lutheran Church, 8601 Valleyfield Road, Lutherville, Md. 21093. Wright Funeral Home, Franklin, Va., is assisting the family. www.wrightfuneralhome.org