Lorenzo Felder was born in Saint Petersburg, Florida, on August 15, 1922. In 1938 he relocated to Baltimore, enrolling in the Booker T. Washington Junior High School, and graduated from Douglass High School in 1942. After graduation he attended Morgan State College until December 1942, when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was assigned to the all-black 51st Defense Battalion and promoted to platoon Sergeant and Chief of Fire Control for a battery of four 90-mm. antiaircraft guns.

After the war Felder graduated from Morgan State and attended law school until his National Guard unit was called back to active duty during the Korean conflict. In 1950 he married his childhood sweetheart, Norma, and began a career at the Aberdeen Proving Ground as an instructor, where he remained until his retirement in 1983 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.