Lawrence Astor 1936-2011

“He really did a lot for people,” said historian Guy Louis Rocha following a memorial service last week for community leader Lawrence Astor.

Astor attended Northside School in Reno, located where the bowling stadium now stands, and the Stewart Indian School south of Carson City, one of the federal Native American boarding schools across the nation.

A Washoe, he was a tribal council member, tribal chair, and senior center director for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. He chaired the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.

In 2004, Astor testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on legislation, S. 1568, intended to keep some lands in trust for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.