In those days, few cadets came from the prestigious New England prep schools. But New England had many Artillery ROTC units, and the Boston area was where many Regular Artillery families lived. And Bix was an Artillery brat through and through. His father and mother were both from Kansas and had attended Kansas State. Commissioned in the Artillery, his father served well and faithfully for 28 years.

So, while Bix was born in Oklahoma, that mecca of artillerymen, it was Massachusetts that placed its firm mark on his education. In 1939 he graduated magna cum laude from Phillips Academy in Andover and already an Eagle Scout. Congressman Connery of Massachusetts appointed him; he was accepted by West Point without further exam. He wore stars for his entire time as a cadet.

But while Lawrence showed intellectual brilliance, particularly in the natural sciences, he was not stuffy. He fenced for two years and then wrestled for one, during the winter season. Most rat races in barracks included him. Yet he chose to spend much of his leisure time in the maze of wires of the Radio Club, where he was secretary-treasurer. When we chose branches, there was a gasp of consternation when Number 8 chose Field Artillery instead of Engineers.

Artillery led to troop duty with the 96th Infantry Division and the Pacific War. On the way overseas he met Joy Carlisle in Sacramento. They were married two years later when he came home to teach at Fort Sill. But during the war period he was a battery commander, making captain in December 1943 (among the first), and serving through Leyte and Okinawa. In December 1945 came duty with the War Crimes Trials in Manila, followed in quick succession by Fort Sill, Russian language instruction, and duty at Sandia when a few soldiers were allowed to work with nuclear matters. It was in New Mexico that Lawrence and Joy celebrated the birth of son Douglas.

But it also was in New Mexico that Bix was retired for physical disability and almost immediately called to active duty to teach electricity at West Point. In 1949 he reverted to retirement and moved to Stanford for his master’s of science and Ph.D. IBM provided a place to work while he finished his doctoral dissertation; he never left them. Obviously his Stanford experience also won him honors and membership in Sigma Xi and Tau Beta Pi.

In 28 years of service to IBM, Lawrence blazed a trail. He was the 35th new employee and 22nd engineer hired by IBM for their new lab in San Jose. When IBM started work on large capacity magnetic storage, he was an early and key contributor. From 1953 – 1957 he was a principal in the development of the first disk drive, the IBM 350, and the IBM 305 RAMAC processor. In the early 1960s he devoted two years to education, training many young engineers who were being hired in San Jose. He then became lead engineer in the development of features to use with the disk drive. His main accomplishment was the architecture and design of the “String Switch” feature, initially designed for the IBM 3340 and later modified for the 3350, 3370, and 3375 disk drives. With these and more successes, it is no wonder that he won the title of IBM Fellow before retiring in 1980.

With all this intellect, he had a surprising number of hobbies: radio amateur for more than 40 years (W6HKG), bridge, coin and stamp collecting, sailing, camping, rock hounding, lapidary and faceting work (member of the Gemological Institute of America), member of the Santa Clara Boy Scout Council — for several years, and chairman of the Board of Directors for the Santa Clara County Junior Museum.

Upon retirement from IBM, Lawrence and Joy moved to Grass Valley, California, in the foothills of the Sierras, which he loved. There he was owed many years to rest and spend time with all his interests. But only a year later he was felled by a heart attack. He is survived by Joy, Douglas, grandson Steven Lawrence, his mother, and his sister Kathryn.

Lawrence was an intensely private person, but his early retirement from active military life was a real blow. He had the potential drive, background, training, intellect, and character to become an outstanding American soldier, as he was an outstanding citizen. He was regarded by his fellow IBM workers for his leadership and integrity — tough (also on himself) but fair. A man who deeply loved his country but was unable to remain in her service, he found his life still molded by his West Point experience — always he lived by the Code. The country has lost a brilliant man with a deep thirst for knowledge, who constantly studied new fields, taught others what he had found, and excelled in everything he did. Rest in peace, good soldier. Your Alma Mater is proud!

— J.C.B. and W.A.K.