Lelia Lawrence Hamilton
Lelia Lawrence Hamilton, age 96, died on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, N.C., of natural causes.
Lelia, known to her friends as Lee, was born on Dec. 12, 1926, in Brooks County, Ga. She was the second daughter of the Revs. William and Lela Lawrence. Lelia graduated from Cook County Training School at 15 years old, attended Morris Brown College, and graduated with a B.S. in Vocational Home Economics from Fort Valley State University in 1946.
In 1951 she joined the U.S. Air Force, graduating from Air Craft Controllers’ School in 1952. She was one of the first six women to work for USAF in that field. While in the Air Force she met and married Eugene Hamilton, another Air Force officer, in 1955.
The couple moved to Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y., where Lelia taught school, and then to Westhampton Beach, N.Y., where they built a family home and raised their growing family. After divorcing in 1966, Lelia returned to teaching elementary school students in Greenport and Riverhead, N.Y. She instilled in those she taught and in her five children the value of getting a good education and working hard to achieve goals. In 1975 she obtained an M.S. in Elementary Education from Long Island University. Upon her retirement from teaching in 1991 she traveled widely and spent many winters in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. In 2009 she moved to Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Lelia was very active in Catholic church activities both in New York and North Carolina. She also served on the board of directors for New Directions (a resource for Long Island women), the board of directors for the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, and as vice president of the Quiogue Association. She was a past member of various military, education and civic organizations and a lifelong member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
She is survived by her children, Linda A. Hamilton of Lanham, Md., Carol H. Bodine (Joseph) of Newark, N.J., Jean C. Hamilton (Wayne Miller) of Chapel Hill, N.C., Judy L. Hamilton (Stephen Reeves) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and Eugene M. Hamilton (Petya Slavova) of Quiogue, N.Y. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial service for Lelia is planned for the summer of 2023 on Long Island. Her ashes will be interred at the Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, N.Y.
Memorial donations may be made in her honor to: Maureen’s Haven Homeless Outreach, 28 Lincoln St., Riverhead, NY 11901 (maureenshaven.org/donations/support-our-mission) or Fort Valley State University, 1005 State University Drive, Fort Valley, GA 31030-4313 (fvsu.edu/donatetofvsu).
This is a paid notice.
