Lorenzo "Lawrence" G. Valenciano

Lorenzo "Lawrence" Gomez Valenciano, 84, of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away on Friday, April 20, 2001, at Research Medical Center. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 25, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 2544 Madison. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery. Friends may call 6-9 p.m. on Tuesday at McGilley Midtown Chapel where the Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m.

Lawrence was born on August 10, 1916, in El Paso, Texas, to Santiago R. and Lucia G. Valenciano. He and his family settled in the Westside neighborhood of Kansas City in 1918.

He met his future wife, Memi, either at her mother's confectionary store or at one of the dances attended by people from the Westside. To escape problems in her home, she talked about moving to Mexico where her grandmother and uncle lived. Instead, he convinced her to marry him. A few days before Christmas in 1940, they met in front of the Jones Store Co. at 12th and Main in downtown Kansas City, and from there, they went to the Jackson County Courthouse to get married.

They had two children by the time he was drafted into the U. S. Army in November 1943 during World War II. He received his ordnance basic training in Aberdeen, Maryland, and while there, also received training in auto mechanics. In August 1944, he was sent to the Asiactic Pacific Theater of Operations with the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion as a rifle marksman and cannoneer. Including the Battle of Luzon, he fought in three battles/campaigns, maintaining and firing machine guns mounted on electrically-powered turrets. He was discharged from the Army near the end of December 1945.

For a year before being drafted into the Army, he worked as a warehouseman for the Santa Fe Railroad. Prior to that time, he had worked as a waiter in hotels in downtown Kansas City. After he was discharged from the Army, he returned to his job at the railroad. Seven years later, he went back to working as a waiter in hotels, country clubs, and fine restaurants in the Kansas City metro area, retiring in 1984.

Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Soledad Valenciano; brothers, Louie and Paul Valenciano; and his uncle, Carmen Gomez. Survivors include his wife of more than 60 years, Naomi "Memi" J. Valenciano, of the home; his son, Carlos (Carol) Valenciano; four daughters, Theresa Valenciano, Dolores (Jim) Sandy, Rita Valenciano, and Annette (Jack) Koontz, all of whom reside in the Kansas City metro area; 10 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Cruz V. (Filemon) Longoria, Phoenix, Arizona; two brothers, Vince (Carol) Valenciano, Escondido, California, and John (Carmen) Valenciano, Citrus Heights, California; sister-in-law, Connie Valenciano, Kansas City, Missouri; and many nephews and nieces and their families.

A devout Catholic, Lawrence was a loving father and a devoted husband. Those who knew and loved him will remember him con mucho carino. Descanse en paz, papa.