Clarence Joseph LaSonde

He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, June 15, 1928 to Louisa Denoyelle and Joseph Alexander LaSonde. He attended Worcester schools and graduated in 1946. He met his future wife, Beverly Joyce Norcross, in high school and they married in 1950, just after he was drafted.

Their first child, Andrea, was born in late 1951 and the family lived on Army bases in Texas, California, and Oklahoma while he completed officer’s training and flight school. He then served as the sole member of the ‘Aviation Section’ of the 740th Field Artillery Battalion for two years in Korea.

Pete returned to the States in 1955 and completed his BS in Electrical Engineering Magna Cum Laude at the University of Massachusetts in 3 years, working nights and summers. He graduated in 1958, the year his second child, Christopher, was born, and joined Lincoln Laboratories.

Very soon after he joined Lincoln Laboratories, he was asked to be part of the creation of The Mitre Corporation where he worked for 30 years on projects such as SAGE air defense and NADGE (NATO Air Defense). During that time, the family moved several times, eventually settling in Lexington, MA, as he led various projects around the country. In 1961, his youngest child, a daughter Mallory, was born.

It was also during this time that he discovered a love of theater and became very active, with his wife, in the Bedford Players where he acted, worked behind the scenes and produced a number of shows, taking time off from the Players only when he and Bev moved the family to Belgium for 2 years for his work with NATO.

Starting in 1962, he and Bev took the children to Star Island every summer for the All Star Family Conference, where they served as Conference Chairs one year. He continued to attend with the family through 1990, and was a member of the Star Island Corporation for several years.

In 1987, after a last trip with Bev to Santiago, Spain, she died of ovarian cancer just after their first grandchild, Philippa, was born. After Bev’s death, he took early retirement and to follow his daughter into ministry. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 1991. Rather than serving in a parish, he found his work at the Boston Christian Counseling Center where he worked for 14 years in counseling, teaching, and leading spirituality groups as a triple cancer survivor.

Following his retirement from BCCC, he volunteered as a case worker for the Department of Children and Families, and loved teaching English as a Second Language.

In 2015, he moved from Lexington to the Meadows at New Horizons in Marlboro where he said the morning after moving in, ‘I should have done this years ago!’ He went on to form many new friendships there, cherishing visits from family, and surviving the COVID epidemic in a safe environment.

He is survived by his daughters and son, three grandchildren, and one adored great-grandson.

A service will be held at the chapel at New Horizons on Wednesday, April 6 at 1:00 PM, conducted by his son-in-law, The Rev. George C. Anastos, and colleagues. There will be a reception immediately following.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by text to 651-795-1118 so that New Horizons can clear enough parking spaces.