Lawrensen, Barry 1959-2023

LAWRENSEN, BAKKER

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-volunteer (email)
Date: 11/8/2023 at 13:15:30

Mr. Barry Lawrensen, husband, father, teacher, role model and lover of Christ, age 64, of Burbank, South Dakota, and Orange City, passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack on Sunday, October 8, 2023, at the Orange City Area Health System. Remembered by many as the smartest man they knew, Barry is remembered not just as a man of immense knowledge but as someone who selflessly shared his skills, talents, and experiences in service of God. Barry lived a full and rich life, filled with joy and gratitude for the Lord’s provision.

A Visitation with the family present will be held on Saturday, October 14, from 9:00am to 10:00am, at the Roseni Lutheran Church in Rural Beresford, South Dakota. There will be a celebration of Barry’s life on Saturday, at 10:00am, at the church, with the Rev. Nancy Eckels officiating. The Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City is assisting the family.

Born on August 12, 1959, in Vermillion, South Dakota, to Elvin and Anna Lawrensen, Barry was the youngest of four siblings. He grew up on a farm near Burbank, South Dakota, and later attended Vermillion High School. He pursued his higher education at the University of South Dakota, where he majored in Mass Communications, minoring in Music, Math, and German. Demonstrating an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Barry earned two master's degrees in digital media and education.

Barry married Elaine Bakker on June 11, 1983. Their shared commitment to sharing the Gospel led them to pursue mission work at Trans World Radio in Guam from 1983-1985. Following their mission work in Guam, Barry and Elaine spent 6 months travelling through Asia and Europe. Barry and Elaine settled in Orange City, Iowa, with Barry serving Northwestern College for 20 years. Barry, Elaine, and their three children spent two years in Kandern, Germany, where they served as missionaries at Black Forest Academy.

After their time in Germany, they briefly returned to Iowa before working as teachers at GSIS in South Korea for two years, followed by eight years as teachers at Christian schools in Hong Kong. Throughout these years, Barry’s witness and gift as a teacher was shared with thousands of students from all over the world. In 2019, Barry and Elaine moved back to the US, where they both continued their teaching careers at Sioux Falls Christian School where they enjoyed working at the same school. Barry was an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher until his death and loved his students and community dearly.

Around Barry, you felt at ease, safe and secure. He was a person who never hesitated to communicate his love for Christ, his family, and his community in both word and action. He could fix anything, and if he didn’t have a solution for a problem, he would find the person who did, or use the internet to learn the skill himself. Dedicated to being a lifelong learner, Barry was always hungry and curious for new knowledge, experiences, and perspectives in his life. You could call on him for his expertise and creativity in technology, woodworking, plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, math, music, cross cultural experiences, photography, video, or just to hear him tell you a good story. Stories filled his conversations from his time living all over the world, stories he shared in experience with his wife Elaine, who he treasured and loved for 40 years of marriage. He was never shy in sharing his love, commitment, and adoration of his beautiful wife. Elaine recalls him saying a prayer in the car before they went on their first date together, a foreshadowing of their shared life together in prayerful dedication to serving God and others. They continued to pray for those in their lives as they drove to work together, sharing the desires of their heart with the Lord and lifting up those they loved to the Lord as a part of their daily routine.

His smile was contagious, his laugh such a full-spirited expression you couldn’t help but join. With the ability to make friends with nearly anyone, Barry would always have a new friend to tell us about—even if he was just on a short flight or in a country where he didn’t speak the same language as his new friend. He was patient and humble and considered no project or concern of someone he loved to be too small. He would drop whatever he was working on to answer your call, to show up for you in whatever way he could. He had a deep love and sensitivity for animals, and there’s a few cats and a dog who will certainly miss his cuddles. He viewed travel and life experiences as one of the most important gifts, and frequently told his children that traveling the world together was his gift of inheritance while he could share it with us.

His love for singing and playing music was closely connected with his devotion as a committed servant of Christ, seeking to glorify God in all aspects of his life as a song of praise. He sang to us our entire lives, passing down his love for music to his children and students. His singing voice is one of the things we will miss the most about Barry, because whenever he was singing, joy would radiate from the sound of his voice. Singing hymns, praise songs and show tunes were his favorites, and highlights of his life as a musician include starting the Christian singing group and band, Soul Purpose, playing the role of Jud Fry in Oklahoma! in local productions, starring as Daddy Warbucks in a production of Annie with Elizabeth playing the role of Annie, and singing specials and on praise team in church congregations internationally.

Technology has always been a huge part of his life, a love he passed down to Stephen and Selah, teaching them each to build their first computers, and eventually pursue successful careers in tech. Beyond these practical skills, he fostered in them a spirit of curiosity and lifelong learning.

Barry will be dearly missed by his wife Elaine, his children Elizabeth, Stephen, and Selah, his sister Carol Nixon, her children Christy, Michael, David and John, his sister Sandra Lawrensen and her partner Jill Sanford, sister-in-law Ruth Bakker, and brother-in-law Peter Bakker. Barry is preceded in death by his parents, Elvin and Anna Lawrensen and his sister Brenda Miller.

1 Corinthians 15:55-58

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Memorials may be given to Roseni Lutheran Church; 47214 307th St; Beresford, SD 57004

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.