David Elwood Lawson

David Elwood Lawson passed away in Fort Worth on January 23, 2017.

Dave was born in Enid, Oklahoma on January 1, 1940, to Darlene and Sherwood Lawson. He graduated from Medford High School in Medford, Oklahoma and graduated from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He started his career at the TracyLocke advertising agency before opening his own firm, McQuien, Lawson & Knowles. He left advertising to manage Byrd’s River Bend Farm, a pecan orchard in Lowndesboro, Alabama. In 1993, while working as an adjunct professor at the University of North Texas, he co-wrote the ground-breaking book on baseball analysis, “Essential Baseball 1994,” with his long-time friend, Norm Hitzges. This began a new phase in his career as a statistical analyst for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners.

While his interests were many, he was a husband, brother, and father first. He is survived by his loving wife, Janice Marie Lawson of Granbury, Texas; his son James Travis Lawson and his wife Nicole of Austin, Texas; his daughter Kirstin Sue Martin and her husband Simon of Dallas; his daughter Erica Jane Henderson, her husband Troy, and his granddaughters Alexis, Aleyah, and Trinity Henderson of Castroville, Texas; and his sister Teresa Wittuhn of Hays, Kansas.

Dave was a man of unshakeable integrity, keen intelligence, boundless loyalty, and a sense of play that was as evident in his seventies as when he was a younger man. He loved richly, and, fittingly, he was richly loved in return. His favorite times were spent fishing, watching & talking baseball, enjoying good food and wine, making road trips, listening to talk radio, and reading and playing with his granddaughters. He claimed to tolerate cats but he secretly loved them as well.

A special thank you to the medical professionals who made such a difference throughout his life.

A private family memorial will be held in the future.