Laurence "Larry" Requa Soderberg

Laurence “Larry” Requa Soderberg, 95, passed away at Assured Senior Living Center in Arvada, Colorado, on January 16, 2022, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's. Laurence was born in Loveland, Colorado, on May 19, 1926, to Arthur Lee and Rosamond (nee Requa) Soderberg. Being hard hit by the Great Depression and bankruptcy of Arthur's plumbing business, the family moved to Casper, Wyoming, for a new start. Laurence attended Natrona County school system and graduated with honors in June 1943. His abiding interest in aviation began when Laurence worked summers with his father as an apprentice plumber at Casper Army Airbase, a center for training WWII pilots.

In July of 1943 Larry was accepted at age 17 for the now famous Navy V-12 program that educated and trained 30,000 naval officers at 120 colleges and universities in a crash non-stop 32-month program. Thereafter known as Larry, he was sent to University of Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering Degree with Honors (Tau Omega), and led the V-12 Battalion as Sub-Commander.

Pacific action in WWII was changed by Hiroshima just as Larry graduated. The Navy assigned him to the Canal Zone, maintaining and flying Martin PBM-5 flying boats, searching for residual U-boats along North and South America. In June 1946 Larry was ordered to Seattle for discharge but chose instead to stay in the Naval Reserve. He remained on Active Reserve through Korea and Vietnam, retiring as Lieutenant Commander in 1986.

Larry furthered his graduate study at Ohio State University and University of Colorado Boulder, achieving a Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering in 1947. Meanwhile, he met and married Carolyn Creel in Casper in 1946. The happy young couple soon moved to Laramie, where Larry became an instructor in Mechanical Engineering with University of Wyoming.

Further employment followed with Ames Laboratory of NACA (now NASA) in California, Denver Research Institute at University of Denver, and Beech Aircraft in Boulder. In 1960,

Larry was employed by Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin) which held contracts to build intercontinental ballistic missiles called Titan. His career there lasted 28 years on a variety of major programs such as Space Shuttle, Titans I, II, III, independent research and development, propulsion research, a highly classified Navy satellite, and war gaming against the Soviets. He retired at the Director level from Martin Marietta Aerospace in 1988. He holds four US patents that he contrived to solve certain challenging aerospace design problems.

In late 1956, Larry, Carolyn and their daughters were the 10th family to move into the new community of Broomfield, Colorado. Together, they were instrumental in the incorporation of that city and made many lasting friends there. Tragedy hit with the untimely death of wife Carolyn from cancer in 1968. Larry then met Kay Barraclough at Martin Marietta, and they married in late 1969 in Broomfield.

Still professionally active, Larry began his own consulting company called Systems Analysis Inc. from 1989 to 1993 and performed highly classified work for National Academy of Science, Office of Naval Intelligence, and Martin Marietta. He was a Registered Professional Engineer (Ret.) in Colorado and Minnesota.

Larry was an avid outdoorsman, trout fisherman, camper, hiker and backpacker in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado and leaves a legacy of stories about those experiences. He was also a lover of swing and jazz music and loved to dance to it. Laurence Requa Soderberg became a Christian at age 14 and remained true to that conviction to the end. Praise be to the Lord.

Larry is survived by loving wife of 52 years Kay of Arvada, Colorado; daughters Susan Soderberg of Vancouver, Washington; Rebecca (Timothy) Lynch of Thornton, Colorado; and Clare (David) Leonard of Parker, Colorado; seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces. Larry was preceded in death by brother Arthur Darwin Soderberg and his wife Gretchen.

The family would like to thank the care providers of Assured Senior Living and Sun Tree Hospice who treated Larry with love and compassion during his final days

A memorial gathering and celebration will be held May 20, 2022 at 10:30 am, at Ryssby Church, 9000 N 63rd St, Longmont, Colorado, followed by inurnment at 12:30 pm at Mountain View Memorial Park Cemetery in Boulder, Colorado.Reception at 1:00 PM at Crist Mortuary Chapel, 3395 Penrose Place, Boulder, Colorado. Please RSVP before May 3, 2022. In lieu of flowers, contributions are welcome in Laurence R. Soderberg’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association, Colorado Chapter.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cristmortuary.com for the Soderberg family.