Maurice Josef Laurier, naval architect and marine engineer, died Oct. 9, 2015, at the age of 88.
He was born in Faulkton, South Dakota on Oct. 11, 1926, and lived in Fairfield, Iowa and Hempstead, New York. He attended Manhattan College in New York City, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and graduated from Webb Institute receiving a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering plus a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Mr. Laurier was later a Sloan Fellow at MIT earning a master’s degree.
Upon graduating from Webb Institute, Mr. Laurier went to work at Electric Boat/General Dynamics for 21 years. He was involved with the first two nuclear powered submarines. He spent more than a year at the National Reactor Test Station in Idaho and later became senior test engineer during the startup and sea trials of USS Nautilus.
At the end of 1971, Mr. Laurier resigned from General Dynamics and in 1972 bought the Greenway Marine Railway in Gloucester and the name was changed to Glass Marine. In 1974, he designed the “Chesapeake Forty” and the Chesapeake Work Boat Company was established. In 1988, Glass Marine was sold and Mr. Laurier established his private marine surveying and engineering consulting practice.
Mr. Laurier was a life member of the Webb Alumni Association, The United States Naval Institute and longtime member and volunteer at the Watermen’s Museum in Yorktown.
He was preceded in death by his first wife of 33 years, Margaret Lee Shiver Laurier; second wife, Nancy Laing Cole Laurier; and son, Brian Douglas Laurier.
Survivors include his son, David Bruce Laurier and wife Lisa; daughter, Karen Lee Laurier Morisato; and grandchildren, Allison Morisato, Garrett Morisato, Margueritte de Laurier and Alice McGillicudy.
The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, at Hogg Funeral Home Gloucester Point. Services and Inurnment will be held at a later date in Mystic, Connecticut.
Should friends desire, contributions may be made to Web Institute, 298 Crescent Beach Road, Glen Cove, New York 11542-1398 or Waterman’s Museum, P.O. Box 519, Yorktown, Virginia 23690.
Please leave online condolences for the family at Hogg Funeral Home.
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