Lawrence "Larry" Harold Lava

Larry was born in Newark, NJ and spent his childhood growing up in Hillside, NJ with his younger siblings Stuart and Dianne and his parents Nate and Helen. In Hillside, he met lifelong friends, enjoyed playing soccer and running track, and helped his father, Nate at his liquor store. He also loved spending summers down the shore with his many aunts, uncles, and cousins. He graduated from Hillside High School and then attended college at Hofstra University. While at Hofstra, he met his beloved wife, Karen and as he would say, they were married for 49 “beautiful” years. Larry loved spending time with his children Stefanie, Jennifer and Marc. Soccer games, dance recitals, dinners al fresco, and any sort of errand brought him immense joy.

Larry worked for over 30 years at Meldisco as a shoe buyer. He was proud of his work and enjoyed the opportunity to travel internationally. During his time at Meldisco, his colleagues became close friends. Larry ended his career working at Burlington and retired in 2022. Larry was a lifelong NY Yankees and NY Giants fan. He also enjoyed holding season tickets to Rutgers football games where he got to share these experiences with his son, Marc and his grandson, Noah. Recently, he even began to follow Premier League soccer so as to keep up with his grandsons Connor and Riley. He was always available to be a patron of his granddaughters,Charlotte and Fiona’s makeshift “salons”. He was not above having his hair done or his nails painted.Larry will be remembered for his generosity, his eagerness to do anything to help family, friends, or loved ones, and his sense of humor.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Karen Lava (Maged) of West Orange and his children Stefanie (Christopher) Hoye of Portsmouth, RI, Jennifer of Washington D.C., and Marc (Danielle) Lava of Shelter Island, NY. He was adored by his grandchildren and will be deeply

missed by Connor, Noah, Riley, Charlotte, and Fiona. He was their biggest fan. He is survived by his siblings Stuart Lava of Huntington Beach, CA and Dianne (Howard) Wertheim of San Diego, CA. He will also be dearly missed by his in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He is predeceased by his parents Nathan and Helen Lava.

The funeral service will be held at Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Rd., Livingston, NJ on Sunday, April 19th at 1:00pm. The family will be receiving friends from 12:15pm-12:45pm. The burial will follow at Beth Israel Cemetery, 1098 Woodbridge Center Dr, Woodbridge Township, NJ 07095. The family will be sitting shiva Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 6pm-8pm. Donations can be made to the Colorectal Cancer Research Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center https://giving.mskcc.org/impact/cancer-types/colorectal-cancer