Willett Lawrence Fields

Willett Lawrence Fields, 81, of Pell City, Ala., passed away peacefully on March 19, 2023. He was welcomed into heaven by his parents Richard Fields and Sallie Mae Fields (Creel), brother Billy Fields and stepfather Price Creel.

Lawrence is survived by his wife of 58 years, Brenda and their three children; sons Scott and Blair (Devin); daughter Danielle Fields Frye (Jay). He was lovingly called Pop-Pop by his five grandchildren Addy and Emmy Frye; Baylor, Holten and Finley Fields. Lawrence is also survived by two sisters; Elizabeth Atkins (Joe) and Debbie Montalbano (Tony).

Born in Columbus, Miss. on Nov. 13, 1941, Lawrence joined the United States Army upon graduation from Jones Valley High School in Birmingham, Ala. A member of the 7th Howitzer Battalion, 11th Artillery, he received an Honorable Discharge after being stationed at Fort Jackson (S.C.), Fort McClellan (Ala.) and Schofield Barracks (HI).

Lawrence loved coaching and playing sports. In the 80s, he could often be found at the Pell City Civic Center playing in mens’ church league softball and basketball games. He made the transition from playing to coaching and being the jovial man he was, one of his favorite pastimes became letting officials know they may not have made the right call.

Most might call him Lawrence. However his family knew him as Bud, his close friends called him Bigun, youth called him Mr. Fields and several simply called him Mayor due to his stint in local politics. Following a successful career at Liberty National Life Insurance Company as a district sales manager, he became the first self-described outsider to win the election of Pell City Mayor in 1988. It was a position he held for two terms until 1996.

Known as one to always lend a helping hand to anyone that needed and never shying away from hard work, Lawrence truly had a servant’s heart. Some of his accomplishments as Mayor included expanding the city limits, opening the Pell City Lakeside Park, recruiting multiple businesses to make Pell City their home and played a role in earning the bid for the town to host the Bosnian Olympic team in 1996. During this time, he never met a ribbon cutting he didn’t like!

His three decades of community service speaks for itself: he was a charter member of Lakeside Hospice, member of the Pell City Rotary Club, member of Talladega Superspeedway’s White Flag Committee, volunteer pre-race director at Talladega Superspeedway and he served more than 20 years as president of the Pell City High School Athletic Booster Club. During his time with the Athletic Booster Club, he made sure all high school athletes were well taken care of - from chartered buses to catered meals to new uniforms and sweatsuits. Lawrence also spearheaded efforts to build a new athletic field house, installed sod and sprinkler system on the high school football field.

Most recently he was the chair of the St. Clair County Healthcare Authority and was instrumental in building the new St. Vincent’s St. Clair hospital in Pell City. Lawrence was recently inducted into the St. Clair County Association of Realtors’ Hall of Fame. Over the course of his life, Lawrence received numerous proclamations and lifetime achievement awards.

Brenda, Scott, Danielle and Blair would like to thank the caring staff at Lakeside Hospice and Carol Green for the excellent care and compassion that was provided.

The family will receive friends on Tuesday, March 21 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Pell City First Baptist Church with a service to immediately follow at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ℅ In Memory of Lawrence Fields.