Chaplain To Lead Memorial Service At Site Of Titan

WESTPORT — The Rev. Robert Lawrence has everything a longtime Titanic buff could want: a scale model of the doomed ocean liner, a piece of coal from the boiler room, replica life preservers, whistles, bells and yellowed newspaper clips.

Each item in his extensive collection paints a picture of the ship on its maiden and only voyage from England to America. But for the Westport resident and pastor emeritus of Fall River's First Congregational Church, a voyage of his own is about to make the picture much clearer.

Lawrence, 81, will help lead a remembrance service at the site where RMS Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m. April 15, 100 years to the minute after the vessel struck an iceberg and plunged into the dark, icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,000 people.

"I can't believe I have the chance to do this," Lawrence said at his Old Harbor Road home, Titanic memorabilia laid out on tables throughout the living room. "I feel just so privileged. It's like a hand in a glove — the perfect fit."

Lawrence, a cruise chaplain for four years, said he could not pass up the offer to participate in the Titanic Anniversary Cruise.

"I couldn't believe something like this was even possible," he said.

The cruise will leave New York on April 10 for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the bodies of many of the liner's unclaimed victims are buried. The ship then will forge through the Atlantic until April 14, when i...

WESTPORT — The Rev. Robert Lawrence has everything a longtime Titanic buff could want: a scale model of the doomed ocean liner, a piece of coal from the boiler room, replica life preservers, whistles, bells and yellowed newspaper clips.

Each item in his extensive collection paints a picture of the ship on its maiden and only voyage from England to America. But for the Westport resident and pastor emeritus of Fall River's First Congregational Church, a voyage of his own is about to make the picture much clearer.

Lawrence, 81, will help lead a remembrance service at the site where RMS Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m. April 15, 100 years to the minute after the vessel struck an iceberg and plunged into the dark, icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,000 people.

"I can't believe I have the chance to do this," Lawrence said at his Old Harbor Road home, Titanic memorabilia laid out on tables throughout the living room. "I feel just so privileged. It's like a hand in a glove — the perfect fit."

Lawrence, a cruise chaplain for four years, said he could not pass up the offer to participate in the Titanic Anniversary Cruise.

"I couldn't believe something like this was even possible," he said.

The cruise will leave New York on April 10 for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the bodies of many of the liner's unclaimed victims are buried. The ship then will forge through the Atlantic until April 14, when i...