Larry Andrew Andersen

“Mother came over from Ireland in her late teens and, my father, at the same age, came over from Denmark. They were sponsored by a gentleman who lived on Park Avenue. Dad was a butler of sorts and mom was a maid. Let’s move forward to when they conceived me.”

The above passage are the first lines in Larry Andersen’s autobiography, which sadly, he did not finish. He did get through 11 chapters, of which we are truly and eternally thankful, as this will be the template for his final story, not told by him, but by the ones who love him dearly. This “beginning before the beginning” is how Larry lived his life, a continuous tale, story after story, most often hysterically funny, to whomever would listen. Surprisingly, many people listened and loved, patiently, over and over again, because Larry was the BEST storyteller out there. He was a cross between Albert Finney in Big Fish, and Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. Who would have thought that the day would come when the undeniable center of attention, Sonny-Andy-Laurits-Larry Andersen would be speechless, as his Loving Lord and Creator carried him into Paradise.

Larry was born on August 16, 1929, in New York, NY and passed away on February 4, 2024, at his home in Birmingham, AL. He was preceded in death by his parents, Laurits and Rita, his wife Faye (Cook) Andersen, and his precious son, Keith Andersen. He is survived by his daughters Meg Pruitt (Tom), Pat Rice (James), and Mary Andersen, his “caboose”, his sister Joan McCluskey, along with 7 beautiful grandchildren, 3 precious great grandchildren, and one on the way, and a host of nieces and nephews that all know or at least have heard of the infamous storyteller, Uncle Larry.

From early on in his life, he was an unforgettable force with great athletic talent. When he graduated from high school in the summer of 1947, an article in the school paper christened him as “the best baseball player Power Memorial had ever produced.”. Larry, (otherwise known and nicknamed Sonny by his mom, or Andy, by his schoolmates) signed to play pro ball with the Yankee organization at 17 years old and left for spring training in the spring of 1948. At 22, he enlisted in the Marines and left for Paris Island on January 16, 1951, to begin 13 weeks of basic training, before going off to fight in the Korean conflict, which he fought until December, 1954. After serving in Korea, he returned to playing ball, which eventually led him to Montgomery, Alabama where he met his beautiful wife, Faye Cook, who was from Selma, Alabama. They were married for 59 years and raised 4 children.

Larry became employed with Combined Insurance Company of America as an insurance salesman. He was very successful which eventually led to a District Manager position that moved the family to Decatur, Alabama in 1969. Larry’s Catholic faith was very important to him and he wanted his children to be educated in the Catholic School, as was he, so the family joined St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Decatur.

Decatur is where Larry met his dearest friends of almost 50 years, golfing buddies Dick (Gnome) and Joe (Popcorn), and fellow baseball player Marve. So many fond memories of golf trips with the guys from the club. So many wonderful memories of Larry and Faye with Marve and Gee Gee. In 1982, life took a tragic turn when Larry and Faye lost their only son Keith. They moved to Birmingham, Alabama a short time after. One of Keith’s closest friends, Robert, has visited dad often throughout those 41 years, the last time just a couple of weeks ago. We wanted to make sure that Robert knew how much each and every one of those visits meant to dad. You are a very special person.

We would be “doubly remiss” if we did not thank the employees of Regions Bank and PNC Bank, who endured multiple calls per day from Larry Andersen, asking for his bank balances. We also want to thank the random strangers at the doctor’s offices, nail salon, and grocery store pharmacy (Bobby), who listened to Dad’s stories. It didn’t matter if he had five minutes or an hour, he always managed to get his life story out to whomever would listen.

A funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Sorrows in Birmingham, Alabama on Thursday, April 4th, at 6:00 PM. Visitation will be on Saturday, April 6th, from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM at Roselawn Funeral Home in Decatur, AL, with a graveside service immediately following at Roselawn Cemetery.

We love you Dad, and we will miss you more than you will ever know.

“God don’t make no mistakes. That’s how He got to be God.”

Archie Bunker