Laura Frances Pinner

Laura Frances Pinner was born on Nov. 30, 1969 in Lakeland, Florida, the youngest child of Bill and Frances Pinner’s five children. From the beginning, she was surrounded by love by her family. Surely, this was the source of her ear-to-ear smile and her love for others that endeared her to anyone she met throughout her life.

Laura succumbed to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, the neurodegenerative disease also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, on Friday, July 7, 2023, at 10:01 a.m. She was 53 years old. Laura filled those 53 years to overflowing, pursuing a career in acting and singing, and the love of her family and a multitude of friends.

Laura attended Medulla Elementary, Lakeland Highlands Junior High and Kathleen Senior High School. Early on, she began dance lessons at Betsye Kay’s School of Dance and danced her way through life. She was a cheerleader in Jr. and Sr. high, spending her teenage Friday nights stomping, jumping, and yelling for the Red Devils.

She graduated from Kathleen in 1987 and enrolled in the University of Florida graduating with a BS in Recreation. She was excited to be in school where her older brother, Pat, was playing for the Gator football team Laura became a Gator-Getter, welcoming future Gator recruits.

Following graduation, Laura entered the world of pageantry and was crowned Miss Lakeland and Miss Manatee County. She competed in two Miss Florida pageants, winning the Miss Congeniality award twice. Once she landed a part as an extra in “Water Boy,” she headed to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television where she lived for 8 years. She also traveled to New York to study acting. Laura appeared in numerous films and television productions, earning SAG card, a great achievement. She appeared in—HBO/Tom Hanks miniseries “From The Earth to The Moon,” about the Apollo moon missions. Following that experience, she decided to move to Hollywood and try her hand at professional acting. She was in 2002’s “Still Standing,” 2004’s “First Daughter,” starring Michael Keaton and Katie Holmes, and “Dog Gone Love.” She can be seen in “Wedding Crashers” with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, “Constantine,” starring Keanu Reeves, and “Domino,” starring Christopher Walken, Kiera Knightly and Mickey Rourke.

While in Los Angeles, she also managed to become a contestant on the Price is Right, winning a trip for two to Amsterdam from the legendary host Bob Barker.

She traveled throughout the world, including London, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and an impromptu trip to Tahiti in 2008, where she swam with stingrays. But it was a mission trip to India in 2003 that filled her heart as she worked with orphans. “It radically changed my life, my mindset and my spirit. But more importantly, it gave hope to a community of people who were so helpless,” Laura told friends.

Laura moved home to Lakeland in the fall of 2006. Laura loved her nieces and nephews and their children deeply as evidenced by all the photos she posted on Facebook. Niece Margie and Greg Kurtz (Ellie and Luke), niece Rachel and Johnny Gibbs (Johnny and Waylon), niece Emily and John Shughart (Stevie Grace and Frances Jane), nephew Tell and Sydney, nephew Bo and Jessica Whitehead, nephew John and Ashton Whitehead (Alex and Emily Brooke), nephew Henry Whitehead, niece Esther Pinner. As they grew older, she would cheer them on as they pursued careers and had families of their own. She was deeply proud of all of them. Her love of children was not limited to family, as she embraced the children of her friends, those with whom she connected at church and through community organizations. She also served on the board of Girls, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to bettering the lives of underprivileged girls in Lakeland and Bartow. In 2013, U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross donated to the charity four tickets to First Lady Michelle Obama’s annual luncheon. Laura and another board member traveled to Washington, D.C., with two girls, who were able to meet and talk with the First Lady. “To witness such a powerful moment for these young women and to know that many years ago this would never have been a reality, was so profound and so exquisite that I can hardly put it into words,” Laura said. “Seeing Washington, D.C., through the eyes of these impressionable girls still gives me great hope for our future. The greatest lesson for me during this trip was to cast down my preconceived notions of meeting with people who perceive politics very differently than I.”

While living in Lakeland and Tampa, Laura worked in sales, and also as a model on Home Shopping Network, which is based in St. Petersburg.

Laura’s love of dance was only exceeded by her love of singing. She sang in church choir as a child and later on the Praise Teams of In His Presence Church in Los Angeles, of First United Methodist Church of Lakeland and then Grace City Church, Lakeland. If you ever rode in a car with Laura, you were regaled with your own private concert as she sang along with the Christian songs on The Joy FM. Laura grew up in church and loved worship of every kind.

In 2019, Laura’s fast marches around Lake Hollingsworth began to slow down. Her left foot had become numb, and she began falling occasionally, including at her 50th birthday party at Mayor Bill Mutz’s home. What was originally diagnosed as a pinched nerve with a subsequent surgery, it became clear that something far more serious was at work as she lost the use of her left hand, then the left side of her body. It became more and more difficult to walk. She was subsequently referred to a specialist at the University of South Florida who diagnosed her with ALS March 25, 2021. Within the year, it became necessary to use a motorized wheelchair.

Despite the bleak diagnoses, Laura held tightly to her faith in Jesus and her belief in His greatest commandment -- that we should love one another, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or politics. She had little patience for people who did not obey that commandment.

During her two-year ordeal, she was kept company by friends and family, who visited throughout each day or called and texted. Her small army of caregivers tended to her every need. In early December 2022, her family and friends hosted a birthday bash at the Pinner home on Pipkin Road. Live guitar music provided by her niece’s husband, Johnny, whose singing filled the yard while her family and close friends poured out their love upon Laura. Later that month, Laura and her parents gathered in her bedroom and looked out a large picture window onto the backyard, where carolers from First United Methodist Church, gathered to sing Christmas carols. Within a few months, Laura had to remain in bed as the disease paralyzed more and more of her body and she was no longer able to maneuver her chair. In the last two months, Laura could no longer use her phone to text friends, although she could read their texts. She was tired most of the time and her voice was fading.

The Ledger chronicled her progression beginning at Thanksgiving in 2021 and then again last February, with a final story about her death this weekend. “I just wanted a full and exciting life – and a meaningful life,” she once told Ledger reporter Gary White. “I’ve had a wonderful life – I really have.”

On Friday, surrounded by her loving family, a few friends and her dedicated caregivers, Laura’s light and love shone even brighter surrounded by the love of Jesus and Heaven’s glory. She is survived by her parents, her siblings June and Steve Edwards, Bill and Sheree Pinner, Jennifer and Rusty Whitehead, and Patrick Pinner, along with her beloved nieces, nephews Margie, Rachel, Emily, Tell, Bo, John, Henry and Esther, her ‘heart children’ Andrew, Emily and Grace, many cousins and her faithful and loving friend, Stan Fenton.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 15, 2023 at 11 am at First United Methodist Church. The service will also be available by LiveStream found on the website of First UMC, Lakeland (www.firstumc.org).

Donations in memory of Laura may be made to First United Methodist Church (https://www.firstumc.org/), College Heights United Methodist Church (http://www.collegeheightsumc.org/), Girls, Inc. (https://girlsinclakeland.com/), or the ALS Foundation Tampa Chapter, 3242 Parkside Center Circle, Tampa, FL 33619.