Edward Lasker; Attorney, Corporate Director

Edward Lasker, 85, noted California attorney, whose career took him from the decks of a destroyer during World War II to the boardrooms of California’s leading financial institutions. Lasker served as a director of the Philip Morris Cos. from 1961 until his retirement in 1980, was counsel to the law firm of Rogers & Wells, was a trustee of Pomona College for 17 years and was a delegate to the 1956 and 1960 Democratic national conventions. He was born in 1912, the son of Albert Lasker, who was a pioneer in American advertising, and Flora W. Lasker. Edward Lasker graduated from Yale University in 1933, joining Lord & Thomas Advertising in New York. In 1941 he became a special assistant to Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and then went to sea during the war, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander on the Destroyer Escort 444 and participating in the invasion of Okinawa. Lasker worked in motion picture production from 1946 to 1952. He obtained a law degree from UCLA in 1955 and served in a number of positions with the State Bar of California, including that of assistant chief disciplinary referee. He was a director of the Great Western Financial Corp., Great Western Savings & Loan Assn. and Mission Viejo Co. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, and four sons, Albert, Lawrence and Steven Lasker and Courtland Palmer. On Friday at his home in Los Angeles after a long illness.