Lawrence Arthur Vredevoe

Lawrence A. Vredevoe, 83, of Arroyo Grande, passed away on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who will be dearly missed.

Lawrence A. Vredevoe was born on August 2, 1940 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1953, the Vredevoe family moved to Santa Monica. He received his B.A. degree in Physics, summa cum laude, from UCLA in 1962, being awarded the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award by the Physics Department. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from UCLA in 1966, with his thesis predicting the prolonged propagation of sound waves in crystals at very low temperatures. While he was at UCLA, Lawrence met his future wife, Marilyn, at the Santa Monica First United Methodist Church, where they were married in 1966.

He worked as a research physicist at the North American Aviation Science Center in Thousand Oaks and in 1970 became an Associate Professor of Physics at Indiana University in Bloomington. While there, he made a life-changing decision to become a physician, graduating from UCSF Medical School in 1975, after completing an accelerated curriculum in 3 years. He did his internship and residency at UCLA, specializing in anesthesiology. He became Chief Resident in Anesthesiology and later a faculty member at UCLA in the Department of Anesthesiology.

After UCLA, he served as a cardiac anesthesiologist at Santa Monica Hospital, later moving to Saint John’s Hospital. He specialized in anesthesia for cardiovascular and pediatric surgery, and became Chair of the Anesthesiology Division and cared for many notable celebrities.

Lawrence retired from his position at Saint John’s Hospital in 1998 and was appointed to the Honorary Medical Staff. He and Marilyn moved to Arroyo Grande. During retirement, Lawrence was a volunteer science teacher at Branch Elementary School attended by his grandchildren Torsten and Linnea. He was active in the local historical society, where he researched and published on the medical history of San Luis Obispo County. He also served as president of the Varian Ranch Mutual Water Company and as treasurer for the San Luis Obispo Crime Stoppers organization. He was a long-time supporter of the San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra, in which his daughter Larisa and her husband Mike are musicians.

Lawrence was preceded in death by his sister, Donna, and is survived by his wife of 58 years, Marilyn, his daughter Larisa and her husband Mike, his daughter Christina and her husband Erron, and his grandchildren Torsten, Linnea, Lucia, and Karl.

To honor his memory, the family will hold a private memorial. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to an organization close to his heart: the San Luis Obispo Symphony or Doctors without Borders.