Laura Broucke King

Laura B. King passed away on September 18, 2022, in Bryn Mawr, PA. She is survived by her loving daughter Karen and her son-in-law Bob. She was predeceased by her husband of 37 years, Leon.

Laura was born and raised on a cattle ranch in the great State of Montana. The youngest daughter of Belgian immigrants Desire and Euphrasie Vanden Broucke, she shared wonderful stories of growing up in Big Sky Country. Her life-long love of horses traces back to riding her horse, Blackie, to school.

In 1941, at the age of twenty, showing the independent streak she retained all her life, she relocated to Washington, DC to start her career with the Federal Government. Her parents were extremely supportive of the move, viewing her job at the Department of Labor as a secure and prestigious position.

Laura met her husband Leon while both were active in a bowling league in Washington, DC.  Married on November 5, 1949, they later welcomed their only daughter Karen and raised her in Arlington, VA.

Karen fondly remembers stories of her mother’s early years in Washington, a fun-filled exciting time filled with the wonders and surprises of a large, cosmopolitan city.

Laura’s career at the Bureau of Labor Statistics reflects significant achievement. Rising from a GS-2 Clerk Stenographer to Senior Executive, Chief of the Office of Field Operations, her path was challenging, fast-paced and spanned over 55 years. Even after retirement, Laura refused to sit still, juggling several jobs and working out at the YMCA to stay young at heart. Though a traumatic brain injury suffered in a car accident in 2007 changed the last 15 years of her life in ways she did not anticipate, her subsequent move to Pennsylvania allowed her to grow even closer to her daughter and son-in law as well as her grandson Bob, his wife Diana, and great-grandchildren Jacob and Allie.

Laura will be remembered as a loving mother, and especially for her indomitable spirit, her sense of playfulness and mischief, her strong will and her never ending quest to avoid boredom.

Laura will join her husband at Quantico National Cemetery in a private interment service.

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