Longtime dentist dies of cancer / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, August 15, 2008

J-W Staff Reports

August 15, 2008

Dr. Lawrence A. Mayer, 73, who died at his home Thursday after a long battle with cancer, had been a local dentist for 38 years.

But Mayer's influence on the community extended beyond his practice. He long had been active in a wide variety of professional, social, church and civic projects.

As a member of Plymouth Congregational Church, Mayer served on seven boards and was a leader in establishing Achievement Place for Girls, serving on that agency's board of directors.

And at a time when the Jaycees had a major impact on events in Lawrence, Mayer held a number of major offices, including the presidency and a number of state and national posts between 1964 and 1971. He was one of the founders of Achievement Place for Boys, was a longtime adviser and board member and later was president and director of the Lawrence Boys Club, now the Boys and Girls Club. He also was an organizer for the local Soap Box Derby competition.

Until recently, he had served as a five-year volunteer for Lawrence Memorial Hospital's Oncology Department.

For a number of years, he also used his woodworking skills to aid in the decorative arts business of his wife, June.

Mayer served as a U.S. Navy dental officer in California from 1960 to 1963 and later retired from the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant commander. The Mayers moved to Lawrence in 1963 to establish their dental practice, in which June Mayer often was active as an assistant and office manager. When Mayer retired from dentistry in 2001, he donated his office equipment and supplies to the Douglas County Dental Clinic.

He attended Kansas University, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha social fraternity. He later was a member of the Xi Psi Phi dental fraternity. The graduate of the School of Dentistry at the University of Kansas City also had held a number of offices in the Douglas County Dental Society, including the presidency. He also was member of the Kansas Dental Society and the American Dental Association.