Larry (Henry H.) Phinney

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Larry (Henry Havelock) Phinney on Saturday November 22, 2025 in St. Albert, Alberta, aged 89.

Larry was born in The Pas, Manitoba. After a few different moves, his family ended up in Dawson City, Yukon in the early 1950’s. Larry was in his early teenage years and very impressionable, this very special place left an indelible mark in his heart.

Larry had many, many stories about living in Dawson City. Among his favourites, was when he was packing down the snow after a heavy snowfall so he could cross country ski and was followed by a family of wolves with two cubs. Every time he stopped, they would stop, and they continued to follow him because his route went past the town garbage dump. Larry also was one of the first hosts for Robert Service’s cabin. He happily spent many hours waiting for tourists to appear where he would give them an informative tour.

In the mid 1950’s, his family moved to Yellowknife, NWT when he was an older teenager, where this very special place also left an indelible mark in his heart. Larry was an exceptional swimmer, was a part of the local hockey team and excelled in high school. Larry also worked in the Giant Mine in his teenage years just north of Yellowknife. After graduation, he joined The Navy for three years and was stationed at Alert, Nunavut on Ellesmere Island. After The Navy, he worked in the barren lands all across the Northwest Territories doing geologist work, looking for the presence of gold and silver, as well as surveying work, which is where his love of airplanes and radios was rooted.

It was at this time in the Yellowknife region that he met his wife LaVerne. Larry went to NAIT in his early marriage to become an Electronics Technologist and worked his way up to Telecommunications Engineering Technologist. They moved to Edmonton and in the course of his work, they called many different places home: Hinton, Edson, Calgary, Whitehorse YK and Fredericton, NB. The Grande Cache area was very close to his heart as he spent many hours driving on forestry truck roads to tower stations in his early career, maintaining various mobile radio systems. Larry was very innovative and thoughtful in his approach to his work which got him on the team to design and install the first province wide data and voice network (analog) communication system.

Larry dedicated his life to looking after his family, extended family, and friends and was very proud of the work he did in the telecommunication industry all across Canada.

Larry is predeceased by his wife, LaVerne (Mayne), parents, Evanda (Roome) and Lawrence Phinney; his little brother, Peter Phinney (Carole); his big sister and brother-in-law, Vee and Bud Innes; in-laws, Ted, Virginia, Lee, Roy, & Audrey; and son-in-law, Richard Jolitz.

Larry is survived by his children, Hudson Phinney (Roberta), Trish Shergold (Doug), Lori Phinney, and Frances Wilson (Lloyd Marthaller); grandchildren, Nick Shergold (Kayla Gould), John Shergold (Kira); and great grandchildren, Emmett and Alexa Shergold.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Canadian Cancer Foundation.

There will be an informal get-together in the spring of 2026 to celebrate his life. If you would like to be contacted to attend, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the family.