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Rev. Lawrence T. Solan was born in Jersey City, NJ on August 30, 1954 to Lawrence T. and †Nan G. Cook-Solan. Approximately 3 years after, he moved to a small town in NJ named Sayreville, just adjacent to New Brunswick. He attended Lincoln School for grades K-2, Washington School for grades 3-6, Wilson School for grades 7-8, Sayreville Jr. HS for grade 9, and Sayreville War Memorial HS for grades 10-12. It was in high school that he became involved with the church and volunteered much time with the handicapped.

Upon graduation from HS he schooled in St. Mary's Seminary College in Baltimore, MD from 1972-1976, graduating with a B.A. in philosophy, with a minor in psychology. There he became very involved with the deaf, becoming fluent in sign language and the counseling of the deaf. He was accepted into St. Mary's School of Theology & University (Baltimore) and attended there for two years. During his time there he did inner-city counseling; bi-weekly pastoral visitation at The Johns Hopkins Hospital Oncology Building, and spent a summer counseling at Spring Grove State Mental Hospital, living on grounds.

After his second year of Graduate school he was interested in working in the West for a summer and obtained summer placement in Colorado Springs. He fell in love with Colorado, applied to the Archdiocese of Denver, was accepted and without interruption continued his studies in 1978 at St. Thomas Seminary. From there he graduated with a M.Div. in 1980 and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on June 7, 1980. In 1995 he received a M.A. in Theology from St. Thomas Seminary. In 1996 he received a Doctorate in Ministry (scripture concentration) from The Graduate Theological Foundation in Indiana.