Lawrence S. O'Rourke entered his new life in heaven at dawn on April 15, 2020, at age 96, after passing peacefully at his home in Woodstock, VT. The treasure of his life, Dorothy Jean, with whom he shared a 72 1/2-year marriage, remarked with understatement that her husband left a lot behind. That includes their children Thomas O'Rourke (Cyndi) of Milton GA; Paul O'Rourke of Germantown TN; Steven O'Rourke of Northridge CA; Susan Loskutoff (Dan) of Wilder VT; Daniel O'Rourke (Bren) of Trussville AL; and David O'Rourke (Jo-Ann) of Wyomissing PA. Mr. O'Rourke was additionally proud of his "progeny" of 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

He had been preceded in death by his two sisters, Alice and Jane.

He was born April 13, 1924 in East Providence RI, the son of Lawrence S. O'Rourke Sr. and Genevieve Tracy, and grandson of Patrick Rourke, an immigrant from Ireland. The family moved to Buffalo NY in 1928. Larry O'Rourke became an avid reader and lifelong learner. His father taught the boy to learn new words from the dictionary each day and apply them to his life. He graduated from Buffalo's St. Joseph HS, then enrolled at Canisius College with particular interest in Physics and Chemistry. With America now at war, he joined the US Army Reserves in 1942, and was called to active duty in 1943, completing basic training at Fort Roberts in California. He was just 19 when the government assigned him to the Manhattan Project, which included further study at Columbia University in New York. For two years his work on fissionable materials helped lead directly to the end of the Pacific War, and saved countless thousands of American soldiers, sailors and airmen, as well as Japanese military and civilians, from a catastrophic invasion of Japan.

His brilliance, however, was exceeded by his modesty and deep sense of perspective. In the decades that followed, he deflected any accolades for his wartime contributions, preferring to quietly name the friends he lost in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, recognizing that they had willingly forfeited the opportunity for the kind of long and happy family life he went on to enjoy.

Following WWII Mr. O'Rourke studied at Brown University, then returned to Buffalo, where on a blind date he met Dorothy Jean Rooney of Perrysburg NY. They married four months later on October 18, 1947. They moved to Oak Ridge TN where he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission. He served as head of production at the country's two uranium enrichments plants, in Oak Ridge and Paducah KY, until 1963. At a special ceremony in Oak Ridge in 2010, he was the featured honoree for his work on the Manhattan Project. More recently he received high honors from The Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.

The family of 8 moved to the greater New York area in 1963, where Larry worked several years for Union Carbide and became a Vice President. Later he joined several firms engaged in applications of special metals. They included Cabot Corporation, New Jersey Zinc, and Kemet. Even after his retirement in 1986, companies sought him as a consultant for his unsurpassed expertise on Titanium, Tantalum, Beryllium, and other elements.

God, family and career came first, but in the limited time he allowed himself for personal recreation, Larry was a spirited dancer, a bowler with a fashionable delivery, and a golfer with a regrettable swing, now presumably much improved. Always a man of warmth and great humor, he was able to enjoy the final quarter century of his life devoted to the company of his beloved wife and children.

Services and memorials will occur at a later time, with burial at St. Mary's Cemetery in Uxbridge MA. Prior to his passing, Mr. O'Rourke characteristically asked that in lieu of flowers or any recognition of him, individuals reading this obituary will consider donating to their local food banks.

" Pacem in terris", he enjoyed sharing in Latin whenever he said goodnight. Peace on Earth.