Laurence Will, 75, a genial police bulldog

When Laurence Will (his family knew him as Laurie and fellow cops knew him as Larry) of New Brighton was a Minneapolis police sergeant-investigator, he likely didn't have any enemies, except among the bad guys.

Will, who served on the Police Department's bomb squad, died March 26 in Coon Rapids of a number of ailments, including congestive heart failure. He was 75.

Minneapolis police Lt. Bill Whisney said Will had a knack for police work.

"He was like a bulldog," said Whisney. "He just never gave up on things."

Will, who joined Minneapolis police in 1968 and the bomb squad in 1969, was honored with the department's Uncommon Valor award in 1971.

Will and his partners worked on a lot of bomb devices in the turbulent years around 1970.

That year, a tipster pointed to a duo who drove a coral pink 1957 Cadillac convertible. The two men were said to have the car rigged to blow up if they were stopped, said Russell Krueger, retired Minneapolis police inspector.

They cut through the convertible top's boot, allowing them to get the trunk open from the inside.

They found 1,000 pounds of dynamite wired to explode.

After catching their breath, the two officers went to work dismantling the bomb.

The two men who had the Cadillac were caught within weeks, charged with the crime and handed over to the FBI.

Krueger said Will was nicknamed Robbery Will because he solved so many armed robberies.

Will liked to tell the story about a police informant, who was sitting in jail charged with a crime. He had been picked out of the mug-shot books.

Will confronted him with the picture, and the man said:

"Officer, someone has been using my face," said Krueger. "Every time Larry told that story, he laughed so hard, the tears came to his eyes."

In 1971, Will and another officer received the Distinguished Police Officer Award from various community groups for risking their lives as they lifted a woman to safety from a ledge of a building.

Will also worked stints in homicide, juvenile and internal affairs.

On his return to the Twin Cities, he worked various jobs and in 1964 became a New Brighton police officer.

He retired from the Minneapolis Police Department in 1989, working another five years as an investigator for the Hennepin County public defender's office.

He liked to fish, hunt and spend time with his family.

He is survived by his wife, Rosemary of New Brighton; sons Dr. Laurence Will of New Brighton, Michael of Washington D.C., and Mark of New Brighton; foster daughter Diane McCarty of Maplewood; nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.