Samuel Varnes Lawton

Samuel V. Lawton age 71, died Thursday, March 14, 2024 at his Mankato home.

Visitation will be 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2024 at Mankato Mortuary with a 1:30 pm prayer service. Burial will be later in Wilmington, Delaware. Memorials may be sent to PO Box 4188 Mankato, MN 56002 designated to either LEEP or Special Olympics of Mankato in memory of Sam.

Samuel Varnes Lawton was born July 3, 1952 to Irving and Barbara (Varnes) Lawton in Wilmington, Delaware. He graduated from Brandywine High School in 1970. In September 1973, he was united in marriage to Karen Gentkowski at Saint Hedwig’s Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware. Karen died in 1998. Sam worked for 17 years with A.I.duPont Institute in Delaware before moving to Mankato in 2005. 

He was very involved in the communities in which he resided, participating in the Mankato Lions Club, LEEP, MRCI, Aktion Theatre, Knights of Columbus just to name a few. Sam worked with the Northern Delaware Football Officials Association and was honored for his many of service. He volunteered with the Talleyville and Claymont Delaware Fire Departments. 

Survivors include his sister, Sharon Ganley and her husband, Joel of Minneapolis, Minnesota; nieces and nephews, Kersten Thibault and her husband, Pat of Minnesota Lake, Minnesota, Kerrey dePaoli of Galveston, Texas, Deacon Sadler of Amelia Island, Florida, Tanya Proffitt of Olney, Maryland, Corey Ganley of Maple Grove, Minnesota; many great-nieces and -nephews, Steven, Amanda, Cisco, Drake, Edie, Greta, Jordan, and Jake; and other family members.

Sam was preceded in death by his parents, wife Karen, sister Ginger Hudson, and friend and former brother-in-law Donald ‘Satch’ Sadler.