Lawler, John Edward, 1908-1982

John Edward Lawler, attorney, FBI agent, and insurance executive was born 19 May 1908 in Mobile, Alabama. His parents were Ida Dickens and Matthew Joseph Lawler, Sr. He attended high school and college at Spring Hill, a Jesuit school in Mobile. in 1930 he went to Washington, D.C., where he attended Stryars Business College and worked in a Sanitary Grocery store. In 1931, he enrolled in Georgetown University Law School and received an LLB degree in 1935. He was appointed a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on 1 July 1935, receiving assignments to the Buffalo, NY, and Los Angeles, CA, field offices. In April 1937, he returned to Washington to become Administrative Assistant to John Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI. On 15 August 1939, Lawler was appointed agent-in-charge of the Richmond field office, which encompassed the Commonwealth of Virginia. Once again, in August 1940, he returned to Washington to assist Director Hoover in organizing the counter-espionage activities of the Bureau. Lawler met his future wife in Richmond and, because of an illness in 1941, he asked to be reassigned to the Richmond field office, where he remained until his retirement from the Bureau in 1950. Lawler and his wife had two daughters and two sons before their divorce in the mid-sixties. For a time after his retirement from the Bureau in 1950, Lawler worked for the Central Intelligence Agency establishing United Business Associates, which invested in African interests, and organizing the Richmond-based Old Dominion Research Company, which supported CIA agents. He was engaged by the Union Life Insurance Company as a Vice-President and General Counsel. He remained with the company after its purchase and merger with Herndon P. Jeffreys, Jr. in the firm of Jeffreys and Lawler. He was a member of the Richmond City Council filling six months of Ed Haddock's unexpired term and was elected to two successive terms (1956-1960). In Richmond, Lawler was also an Alternate Director of Civil Defense, Chairman of the City's Personnel Board and active on law enforcement advisory boards for the city and state. Lawler died at the age of 74 on December 30, 1982. According to newspaper reports at the time, he was found beaten to death in his Riverside Drive house. An inquiry by Richmond City Police of his death was tied to an investigation of his alleged involvement with prostitution. As of 1983, the investigation remained unsolved.

From the description of John Edward Lawler papers, 1937-1974 (James Branch Cabell Library). WorldCat record id: 707939088

John Edward Lawler, attorney, FBI agent, and insurance executive was born 19 May 1908 in Mobile, Alabama. His parents were Ida Dickens and Matthew Joseph Lawler, Sr. He attended high school and college at Spring Hill, a Jesuit school in Mobile. in 1930 he went to Washington, D.C., where he attended Stryars Business College and worked in a Sanitary Grocery store. In 1931, he enrolled in Georgetown University Law School and received an LLB degree in 1935. He was appointed a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on 1 July 1935, receiving assignments to the Buffalo, NY, and Los Angeles, CA, field offices. In April 1937, he returned to Washington to become Administrative Assistant to John Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI. On 15 August 1939, Lawler was appointed agent-in-charge of the Richmond field office, which encompassed the Commonwealth of Virginia. Once again, in August 1940, he returned to Washington to assist Director Hoover in organizing the counter-espionage activities of the Bureau. lawler met his future wife in Richmond and, because of an illness in 1941, he asked to be reassigned to the Richmond field office, where he remained until his retirement from the Bureau in 1950.

Lawler and his wife had two daughters and two sons before their divorce in the mid-sixties. For a time after his retirement from the Bureau in 1950, Lawler worked for the Central Intelligence Agency establishing United Business Associates, which invested in African interests, and organizing the Richmond-based Old Dominion Research Company, which supported CIA agents. He was engaged by the Union Life Insurance Company as a Vice-President and General Counsel. He remained with the company after its purchase and merger with Herndon P. Jeffreys, Jr. in the firm of Jeffreys and Lawler. He was a member of the Richmond City Council filling six months of Ed Haddock's unexpired term and was elected to two successive terms (1956-1960). In Richmond, Lawler was also an Alternate Director of Civil Defense, Chairman of the City's Personnel Board and active on law enforcement advisory boards for the city and state.

Lawler died at the age of 74 on December 30, 1982. According to newspaper reports at the time, he was found beaten to death in his Riverside Drive house. An inquiry by Richmond City Police of his death was tied to an investigation of his alleged involvement with prostitution. As of 1983, the investigation remained unsolved.

From the guide to the John Edward Lawler Papers, 1937-1974, (Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University)