Eddie LaVauen Law

Eddie LaVauen Law came roaring into this world on December 28,1951 in Campbell, Alabama the eighth of ten children born to Johnnie Law and Allie Mae O'Neal. Life in Alabama as a kid was simple and he passed the time swimming in the creek, delivering newspapers and trying to hang out with his older brothers. It was here that his love for cars began. Eddie attended Elementary School and Middle School in Alabama. When Eddie was about 16 years old, the family picked up and moved to Dayton, OH on Miami Chapel Rd right across the street from the Collins family. The Law boys were awestruck by the beauty of the Collins girls and the Collins girls were mesmerized by the handsome Law boys!  The two families got along well and grew close over the years. It was here that Eddie would meet, and later become best friends and marry his future wife, Brenda. Eddie first attended Wilbur Wright High School in 1967 before transferring to Dunbar High School. He was a very active student and had many friends. He was in auto shop, played football and ran track before graduating in 1970.

In an effort to avoid a flight to Vietnam, he enrolled in a few accounting classes at Sinclair Community College while working on friends’ cars as a hobby and side hustle. Eddie was really good with numbers and wanted to be an accountant. He was offered his first real job at Fleenors Auto Parts and discovered that he was really good at it. It was during this time that he decided he wanted to marry his best friend and make her his wife. Eddie and Brenda married on December 21, 1973. They moved to Indianapolis IN for a short time, and then came back to Dayton. This union produced their first born Tamika, born in March of 1974. Four years later they had Tiffany in 1978, and was surprised by Eddie IV in 1981.

Eddie worked at Fleener’s Auto Parts on Salem Avenue for about 5 years to support his growing family. This is where the moniker “Fast Eddie” was born!  Eddie was fast in getting parts for the customers and knowing what they needed for their cars and ringing them up. After a few years, he changed stores and joined the team at Auto Works. He quickly worked his way up as store manager, was respected by his employees, and loved by the customers. So many people came to the store because of Eddie. He had a line out the door of people waiting for him to help them. He would even go outside and install parts, windshield wipers, put in batteries, lights and brakes. His customer service was exceptional.

Eddie would often bring work home and work on cars in the family driveway. Any given Sunday there would be a line of cars up & down the driveway. He replaced transmissions, engines, and catalytic converters, he changed tires, bled brakes and flushed radiators. He would work on 4-5 cars at a time and would only charge 2 cases of beer and a pack of cigarettes! After Auto Works went out of business he went over to AutoZone and became a superstar on the sales floor for over 20 years and eventually ended his auto parts career at Advanced Auto in 2014.

Eddie was a family man. In the early 1980’s he and Brenda were avid bowlers and spent many Thursday nights at Bowlero Lanes in the bowling league. Eddie had a mean hook ball. He would throw it and it would teeter precariously on the edge of the lane, and just when you thought it was going in the gutter, it would hook real hard to the left for a strike! He would slide to the left with his victory finger waving in the air confident that it was going to be a strike all along! He and his son Eddie later played together in the Five Guys bowling league at Marion Bowling Lanes in Huber Heights. He averaged around 180 a game. 

Eddie also loved to play basketball. He was a pretty good shot and pretty quick for an older guy! He spent many summer days out in the back playing basketball with Tamika and Eddie while Tiff cheered on the sidelines. He was one of the first in the neighborhood to install a basketball hoop on the garage so there were always neighborhood kids playing in the yard as well as family. Eddie would often play One-on-one with his nephews and cousins and his brother-in-law Joe Collins in the backyard. There would be basketball tournaments and lots of bragging rights!

Eddie and family traveled yearly to the MCJ family Reunions all across the United States. He also made annual treks down to his old stomping grounds in Campbell and Mobile Alabama. He loved being out there in the woods with his brothers. He & his brother Griffin were inseparable. They were best friends who loved to drink, shoot the breeze and hang out. If you saw one, the other was always close by. Eddie was the life of the party! He and his buddy Greg loved to go down south and they also hung out locally at the Silver Fox. When Eddie turned 50, he got his ear pierced and thought he was the smoothest thing since Jiffy Peanut butter. 

Eddie was a true music lover. Even though he couldn’t sing a lick, that didn’t stop him from belting out his favorite tunes!  He really knew music, too! He could hear any song and within the first 6 seconds tell you the artist, the name of the song and the year it was released and what he was doing when he first heard it. He would have been a hit on the show Name That Tune! Eddie loved to sing R&B oldies on road trips and just hanging with the family. After Eddie retired, he travelled and moved to both DC and Chicago before returning home to Dayton in 2024 as his final resting place.

Even though Eddie and Brenda divorced, they remained friends until the very end. He was loved by all and will be remembered for his warm hearty laughter, love for cars, drinking beer, and his family.
L - A - Frigging W forever! 

He was preceded in death by his mother, father, and brothers (Johnnie Columbus, Albert Louis, Henry Earl, William Frank, Gene Autrey, Griffin Ivory, Daniel Law, and Donald James Nesbit.

He is survived by his children: Tamika Law, Tiffany Henderson (Larry), Eddie Law IV. Grandchildren: Jaali Boyd, Larry Adonijah Henderson, Anaiah Henderson, Elijah Law, Jabarri Putman, and Makendra Brown. Former wife and Friend Brenda Law.  Sister Annie Eula Craft and Best Friend Greg McNair. A host of nieces, nephews, and cousins who love him dearly.

Special thank you to Keauna and Karrington Brown for their love and care of their Uncle Eddie in his last year.

Fast Eddie inevitably ran out of gas and departed this life on May 15, 2025 and entered into the Lord’s rest. 

Funeral service 11 am Friday, May 30, 2025 at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 380 S. Broadway St., Dayton, OH. Visitation 10 am- 11 am at which time family will receive friends. Arrangements entrusted to House of Wheat Funeral Home.

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