Lawrence A. Houdelette

Larry was born on July 12, 1945 in Wareham, MA and moved to Tampa, FL at the age of 10 in 1955 with his parents, brother and two sisters.

He is survived by his son, Clinton Andrew Houdelette of Tampa; daughter, Kristal Dawn Houdelette (Buz Crawford) and grandson, Lewis Allen Swint of Plant City.

He was a very loving Father (best Father ever!), Grandfather (Poppa), Brother, Uncle, Great Uncle and a wonderful friend.

He was preceded in death by his son, Matthew Allen Houdelette, aged 20 months in 1973; parents, Edwin Cail Houdelette & Ellen Catherine Wiinikainen Houdelette and a niece Andrea Marie Houdelette, aged 18.

Larry leaves behind his loving family including sister, Carolyn Houdelette (Ed Wieczorek/dec.) of Wesley Chapel; brother Charles Houdelette (Susan/dec.) of Knoxville, TN; sisters Linda Adum (Ken/dec.) & Cathy Bonner (Glenn/dec.) of Tampa.

He was adored by his nieces & nephew. They include Lorien Houdelette Mattiacci (Mike) of Knoxville, TN, Amie Adum Simmons MacLauchlan (Marc/dec.) of Tampa, Allison Adum Schaer (Mike) & Anthony Adum (Shelby) of Wesley Chapel. Great nephews & great nieces are Mikey, Nicholas & Christian Mattiacci, Sherwin & Cail Simmons, Kennedy & Rylee Schaer and Hugh & Emilia Adum.

Our 17 aunts, uncles and their spouses have all gone to their rest, however we have dozens upon dozens of cousins alive and well all across the nation! The majority of them are mainly in the Northeast, with some in Rhode Island, Maine & many in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

He also leaves a loving extended family, the Adum families, the Duvalls, the McClures, the MacLauchlans, the Schaers and those who are considered family, the DiMartinos & DuBoses.

Larry wrote of early childhood memories of him & his brother, Charlie helping unload freight train cars of bagged cement for Dad & his brothers' blockplant, Houdelette Bros. in East Wareham, MA. He helped hose down with water the blocks they had just made. They would also ride along to make deliveries of sand, blocks or cement to many different towns and communities. One winter Dad took him & Charlie deer hunting in the snow (although no deer were killed)! He had fond memories of riding in the back of Dad’s truck, family picnics, picking blueberries, trips to cousin George’s fish house in Buzzards Bay, swimming at White Island, Muddy Pond and Onset Bay.

His interest in compiling lists and statistics started with Dad at a young age. He was a huge Boston Red Sox fan and recalls going to Fenway Park for a double header against the Cleveland Indians. They also went to Boston for the Ice Capades.

Our neighbor in Tampa, Benny Brueggeman introduced Larry to The University of Florida Gators in the late 50’s and from that moment on, he was a dedicated fan for life in all its athletics!

Larry attended & graduated in 1963 from Brewster Vocational High School. He was an honor student & excelled on the basketball team. When he was 16, he was featured as “Teen of the Week” in the Tampa Tribune. The article was titled “Print Shop Youth Goes A-Shrimping”. Over the summer, Larry had worked on shrimp boats along with Dad for Versaggi Shrimp Co. in Aransas Pass, TX. They visited Houston and Corpus Christi, where he said “the city is very beautiful, as are many of the girls of Mexican descent who inhabit it”. He took printing at Brewster’s print shop and early on wanted to be a printer. After graduation he worked for Joe B. Klay.

He worked for a time at Bill Currie Ford before being called up for the draft during the Vietnam War in the mid 60’s. Fortunately, he ended up not having to go.

Larry liked Ford vehicles and his first car was a black & white Ford Fairlane. He later bought an early edition Ford Mustang Mach I in turquoise.

He was also a lover of music and started his music/record collection in the early days of Rock & Roll. His collection remains to this day, which includes over 250 45’s and dozens of 33 LP albums. His collection dates from the late 50’s through the 60’s, 70’s and even into the 80’s.

Larry was very athletic. He and some friends played in a City of Tampa basketball league, the Country Raiders, and played mainly at Seminole Heights Recreation Center.

He was the ultimate statistics & trivia aficionado! He was always witty & had a brilliant mind.

Larry’s four plus decades-long career in the construction business, pipe laying and site preparations around the state of Florida began in 1966 with Bumby & Stimpson, General Contractors. He worked with them until 1980. This is where he met his young wife, Deborah Hugar, in 1971 through her mother who worked there. Their first child, Matthew was born in 1972 and tragically passed away in September 1973.

He was employed as a heavy equipment operator & pipe foreman for Keene Bros., Schaer Development and a few other companies. Larry worked starting in 1988 for Nelson Construction, until his retirement in Dec. 2008. When driving around Hillsborough or Pinellas County, he always pointed out all the roads, pipelines, intersections or projects that he had a part in developing!

Throughout the years, Larry enjoyed family gatherings with the Hugars (Clarence, JoAnne, Dennis, Danny, Donald, Dianna, Darrell & Doug) and with his own family. We enjoyed board game nights (he was especially good at Scrabble), card games & countless birthdays, holidays & other special gatherings. Rarely did he miss a chance to spend time with his loved ones. Family was his priority.

For several years he bowled in both a Men’s League and a Mixed Doubles League in the early 80’s. Debbie along with Larry’s childhood friend, Dick Lawler and wife were part of the league. Brother Charlie and wife, Susan also bowled with them.

Larry was a sports fanatic! Makes no difference what it was, be it his favorites - Florida Gators, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, UConn Women's Basketball, Raiders (originally in Oakland), Dale Earnhardt, Chelsea Women’s Football Club, Golf or the Olympics. Larry attended the UConn games every time they came to play at U.S.F. He also went to many golf tournaments throughout central Florida.

In retirement, Larry took up the game of golf and had weekly golf outings with his friend from childhood, Dick Lawler and others. He golfed as long as he was able after his cancer diagnosis in 2020.

Larry participated in multiple Fantasy sports leagues and was disappointed not to be able to join in the recent draft with his family for the current Fantasy Football Season. ☹️

In his last years, Larry was thrilled to watch and/or cheer on his great nephews & great nieces who excel in basketball, hockey, flag football, volleyball and baseball.

If Larry wasn’t watching sports on TV, you could find him watching either Court TV, Big Brother, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy or I24, Israeli News Channel.

He also liked to listen to old music hits on YouTube or would live stream airplanes taking off or landing at Heathrow & other airports. It’s ironic since Larry never flew on an airplane!

In the last couple decades, Larry was a staunch republican and outspoken Trump supporter. He was opinionated about his political views, his sports and life in general. He was a self described “realist”.

There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, October 18th from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. It will be held at Pebble Creek Community Center, 18715 Bent Tree Lane, Tampa, FL 33647. All are welcome & encouraged to share a story or memory of Larry’s life.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Larry’s memory to the American Cancer Society or Melech Hospice House, 11125 N. 52nd St., Temple Terrace, FL 33617