Karl Warren Cavanaugh, 82, of Baton Rouge, passed away on Jan. 20, 2017, at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge.
He was born on August 17, 1934, in Hornbeck to loving parents, Albert and Ruth Beckcom Cavanaugh. He was
preceded in death by two older brothers, the Rev. Dr. A. B. Cavanaugh and Joseph F. Cavanaugh.
He is survived by his sister, Ramona C. Lawrence; three nieces, Julie Cavanaugh, Phyllis Ferguson and Susan Clay; three nephews, Richard
Lawrence, Jerry Cavanaugh and Mark Cavanaugh; nine great nieces and nephews and several great-great nieces and nephews.
He graduated from Hornbeck High School in 1952, and in 1956, earned a B.A. from the University of Southwestern
Louisiana. He earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and did several years of post-graduate study there. He served two years in the U.S. Army and then attended law school at Louisiana State University, where he
was valedictorian of his class in 1965 and was also editor of the Law Review. He practiced law in Baton Rouge for over 30 years.
Karl was a generous, but modest man. He deeply loved his family and included them in his travels in the
western part of the U.S. He was a Master Strength Correspondence Chess Player, but took the time to teach his young nieces and nephews the game.
He had a life-long passion for learning and was an avid reader with an amazing depth of
knowledge on many subjects, especially World War I and World War II. He enjoyed following baseball and loved the arts. He will be fondly remembered as a wonderful story teller, able to bring the characters he described to life.
A memorial
service will be held for him on Feb. 18, at Holly Grove Methodist Church in Anacoco.