Lawney was a close friend of Margaret Treat Doane, the daughter of hymn writer William Howard Doane.[12] In 1948, her hometown church in Readsboro, Vermont, dedicated a plaque honoring her missionary work.[13] Lawney died in 1962, aged 80 years, at a hospital in New York City,[3][4] after several months of illness.[5] Her grave is in Heartwellville, Vermont.