Major Cav. Lawrence Edward Lotito

OMRI The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

, OSSI (May 10, 1921 - December 18, 2004) was an American business owner,

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

, and

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Early life and education

Lotito grew up on a thirty-acre farm in

Arvada, Colorado Arvada () is a home rule city located in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 124,402 at the 2020 United States census, with 121,510 residing in Jefferson County and 2,892 in Adams County. Arvada is ...

alongside his three siblings. He was born to first-generation Italian immigrant parents Rocco and Concetta Lotito. After graduating from Arvada High School in 1939, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. Lotito then went on to earn a meteorology degree from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Military career

During his military career, Lotito served six years of active duty in both

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In 1943 he was retained at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

as a metrology instructor. In 1945, Lotito was sent to Florida for a series of top secret war cabinet meetings with other senior ranking U.S. Military officials. It was there that the Allied Forces planned the weather conditions and coordination for the dropping of the atomic bomb (

Little Boy Little Boy was a type of atomic bomb created by the Manhattan Project during World War II. The name is also often used to describe the specific bomb (L-11) used in the bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ...

) on

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

. For his services, Lotito was offered a promotion of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on the condition that he be stationed in Japan for the next two years. He declined the promotion as he was not allowed to bring his newly wedded wife, Patricia Walsh. Lotito retired as a

in the

in 1981.

Later life

TWA

Lotito joined Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1946 as a meteorologist. In 1947, Lotito and his wife were relocated to

Shannon, Ireland Shannon () or Shannon Town (), named after the river near which it stands, is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off the N19 road, a spur of the N18/M18 road between Limeric ...

after being requested by the Irish Government. Due to his familiarity with the North Atlantic weather, Lotito was reassigned as Squadron Consultant to the Hemispheric Weather Center in Ruislip, England. In 1953 Lotito returned to

TWA The Twa, often referred to as Batwa or Mutwa (singular), are indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, recognized as some of the earliest inhabitants of the area. Historically and academically, the term � ...

as station and district transport manager in both Rome as well as London. It was here that he was decorated by the Italian Government with a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

hood for his work with the Italian Meteorological Service. In 1968, Lotito was named Chairman of

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

Operators' Committee (AOC). At that time, the London group, with 61 member airlines, was the largest and oldest AOC in the world. Lawrence Lotito receiving a knighthood from Italian president Giovanni Leone

Lawrence Lotito receiving a knighthood from Italian president Giovanni Leone

Marriott and Air Cuisine

Lotito left

in 1972 to join the

Marriott Corporation The Marriott Corporation was a Hospitality industry, hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993. It was founded by J. Willard Marriott and Frank J. Kimball as Hot Shoppes, Inc. In 1957, it opened its first hotel in Arlington Count ...

as Vice President and Director of Operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 1974 Lotito went on to leave Marriott to join International Catering Consultants. It was there that he founded Air Cuisine, an airline catering service which developed kitchens in the UK as well as the Middle East. Lotito sold Air Cuisine in 1986. Lotito then returned to Arvada, Colorado to live out his retirement. Major Cav. Lawrence Edward Lotito OSSI died on December 18, 2004. He is buried at the Arvada Cemetery in Arvada, Colorado.

Honors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotito, Lawrence 1921 births 2004 deaths Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic People from Arvada, Colorado United States Air Force airmen United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War University of Colorado Boulder alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American people of Italian descent