A. A. Lauzun House, 1628 E. Grand River Ave. (1929)

A. A. Lauzun House, July 2004. Photo Credit: Kevin S. Forsyth

Armidas Alphonse “Claude” Lauzun (1882–1962) worked at the REO Motor Car Company starting around 1913 (possibly earlier), working his way up to an executive position as factory superintendent. In 1936, the same year that REO stopped building automobiles to focus on trucks, Lauzun moved to Oldsmobile where he stayed until his retirement in 1955.[LSJ, 5 Mar 1962, p. 2]

Claude and his wife Nina (1885–1963) raised three children, all Michigan State College graduates. Sherman A. Lauzun (M.S.C. ’31 with high honors, M.S. ’33) was a mechanical engineer like his father. Virginia Dufresne Lauzun (M.S.C. ’32, M.S. ’34) earned an M.D. degree from the Woman’s Medical College in Philadelphia (now part of Drexel University), interned at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and opened an internal medicine practice at Lansing. In 1974, Dr. Lauzun-Stoney “became the first female physician to work within and serve as medical director at Southern Michigan Prison [at Jackson] until her retirement in 1979.” Ezetic Paul Lauzun (M.S.C. ’40) worked briefly for the Board of Water and Light of Lansing. Active in the R.O.T.C. Coast Artillery unit during his years at M.S.C., he enlisted in the Navy in November 1940 and later received a commission as Ensign. He died in the crash of two Navy PBY-5A Catalina patrol bombers in 1942 near Livermore, California.[Minutes, 13 Jun 1931, p. 944; 1 Jun 1932, p. 1005; 18 May 1933, p. 1056; 19 Sep 1935, p. 1191; 10 Jun 1940, p. 1632. LSJ, 18 Mar 1997, p. 10. Oakland Tribune, 13 Apr 1942, p. 1; 14 Apr 1942, p. 16]

Claude and Nina Lauzun’s home was considered “huge in size” in its day and touted to “be one of the finest in the vicinity of East Lansing when completed” in 1929. Its large, wooded lot backs onto the Red Cedar River. Aside from the house’s somewhat imposing size and style, and Lauzun’s longtime employment in the Lansing auto industry, it is not known to this author why it was designated as a Landmark Structure by the East Lansing Historic Commission. Today the Lauzun residence is a “student housing community” sponsored by the Community of Christ.[LSJ, 15 Jun 1929, p. 13]

A. A. Lauzun, in a caricature from REO Magazine, 1914. Photo Credit: CADL Archives, available online.