One wanted to be a chef, another a teacher. Parents honor twins killed in Texas floods
Hanna wanted to be a chef so she could feed needy people for free.
Rebecca had a keen eye for fashion and “a killer eye-roll.”
These are some of the memories Lacy and John Lawrence will treasure of their 8-year-old twin daughters who both perished in the Texas Hill Country floods that took the lives of at least 134 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic. Another 101 are still missing.
The girls were the granddaughters of Roberta and David Lawrence Jr., a former Miami Herald publisher and longtime advocate for early childhood education.
READ MORE: Granddaughters of Miami childhood education advocate David Lawrence die in Texas flood
Hanna and Rebecca were attending the camp for the first time. They had just finished second grade at University Park Elementary School in Dallas. Completing second grade was a requirement to go to Camp Mystic, an all-girl Christian camp that was planning its centennial next year and whose alumni included the two daughters of former President Lyndon B. Johnson and former first lady Laura Bush, a counselor.
“Hanna and Rebecca shared a bond that only twins could understand. They were so different, but had the sweetest friendship. They both loved books, and could stay up all night reading to each other. And they could spend hours playing make believe games with each playing multiple starring roles,” Lacy and John wrote in a tribute shared with the Herald.
But while they were twins, each had their own personality and dreams.
Hanna “could always be found building, drawing, and creating. She would make new friends wherever she went, as soon as she got there,” her parents wrote.
“She loved to push buttons and boundaries, but had a talent for doing it in a way where you could not help but smile. She wanted to be a chef when she grew up so she could open a restaurant that would feed people in need for free.”
Rebecca “loved to snuggle and was always up for a family movie night. Her laugh was infectious, and no one could make her laugh as much or as hard as Hanna did.
“She had her own clear sense of fashion and always knew the exact look she wanted. She was sweet and kind, but had a killer eye-roll. She wanted to be a teacher when she grew up.”
The girls looked up to their 14-year-old sister, Harper, who also was at the camp but survived. The older girls were in cabins higher up the hill from the Guadalupe River, which rose to nearly 27 feet in the predawn hours of July Fourth, washing away homes, cars, cabins and campers.
On Friday, a funeral for the girls will be held at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, where the family lives. Lacy and John Lawrence are prominent Dallas attorneys.
The girls’ death has touched many. Their grandfather, Dave Lawrence, told the Herald more than 1,000 people have reached out to him, including the former Roman Catholic Cardinal of Boston, Seán Patrick O’Malley, and Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.
“Our family has deeply appreciated the love and prayers,” Dave Lawrence said in an email to the Herald.
Charitable fund
Hanna and Rebecca’s parents have set up a charitable fund in their memory at the Dallas Community Foundation. To donate, go to https://dallasfoundation.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=5389
The fund will support causes that “amplify Hanna and Rebecca’s passions and spread the joys and the meaning of their lives to others.”
Joyful is how Lacy and John want their daughters to be remembered:
“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others. We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time.”
