Lawrence Calvert

Lawrence Lamar Calvert, 82, of Oak Ridge, died at his home Sunday, January 26, 2020, of kidney failure and other complications of cancer. Calvert served in various capacities with the Tennessee Valley Authority during a 31-year career that spanned from 1962 to 1993, most notably as TVA’s Washington Representative from 1973 to 1979. He was the point man for the agency’s relations with Congress, the White House, and industry trade associations “during a period,” as The Knoxville Journal put it, “in which the agency found itself entangled in a number of nationwide environmental and legislative disputes.” These included the controversy over the endangered snail darter, which for a time blocked the completion of TVA’s Tellico Dam; clean air and strip-mining legislation; and TVA’s expansion of nuclear power facilities, all against a backdrop of sharply rising energy prices. Prior to being named Washington Representative, Calvert took on a number of roles in TVA’s Information Office between 1962 and 1973. He was at various times chief editor of TVA’s Annual Report and chief speechwriter for TVA Chairman Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner. Calvert was also instrumental in the launch of a well-received glossy internal TVA magazine, TVA Perspective. After returning from Washington, Calvert filled a number of TVA senior management positions. For most of the 1980’s, he was head of TVA’s economic and community development operations in Knoxville. He concluded his career as head of TVA’s land and forest resources programs in Norris. Calvert was born in Chattanooga July 2, 1937, and moved to Knoxville with his parents as a small boy. He was a 1955 graduate of Central High School, where he was a member of the Bobcat baseball team. He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee in 1959. At UT, Calvert was sports editor and then editor-in-chief of The Orange and White, the weekly predecessor to The Daily Beacon. He was a member of the Scarabbean Honor Society and Lambda Chi Alpha social fraternity. After briefly serving in 1959 as editor of The Fountain Citizen newspaper, Calvert became a naval officer, serving in the Pentagon as public affairs officer to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, before returning to Tennessee in 1962 to join TVA. After retiring from TVA, Calvert pursued interests such as amateur photography – he exhibited locally in shows including the Dogwood Arts Festival – and traveling, especially to Ireland, which he visited multiple times in the 1990s and 2000s. For his entire life, he was an avid fan of Tennessee Vols sports. Calvert was preceded in death by his parents, William Nelson Calvert, Jr. and Aileen Crenshaw Calvert, and a brother, William N. Calvert III. He is survived by a son, Lawrence L. Calvert, Jr. of Arlington, VA, and a daughter and son-in-law, Laura Calvert Hubbard and Eugene Hubbard of Knoxville, and his former wife, Jennifer Hamilton Calvert of Oak Ridge. The family wishes to especially recognize his dear neighbors and friends, Carol Iddins and Bruce Watson, and his caregiver, Ashley Wesley, all of Oak Ridge, who brought comfort and light to his final years and his last illness. The family will receive friends on Saturday, February 1, 2020 at ROSE MORTUARY BROADWAY CHAPEL from 10:30 am – 12:30 am followed by a procession to Greenwood Cemetery for a 1:00 pm graveside service. Reflecting Mr. Calvert’s deep love of animals, donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. An online obituary may be viewed and condolences made at www.rosemortuary.com.

Tributes

Lawrence Calvert

January 26, 2020