Larry Joe McMenamy

Larry Joe McMenamy passed away on January 15 just before midnight. He was home with his sons and peacefully went to sleep in the same recliner where his wife Betty had taken her final breaths just weeks before.

Larry was born on January 21, 1936 to Marvin (Mack) and Ona Belle McMenamy in Van Alstyne, Texas. He was the ninth of 12 children whose ages spanned more than 20 years between the oldest and youngest. The boys would sleep four to a bed when they were younger and his mother would often sit down exhausted after cooking for such a large group of hungry mouths. Several children had already moved away from home when the McMenamy's moved to Plano, which led to Larry enrolling in school a grade behind his future wife, Betty. He played high school football in the days of open face helmets, leading to several broken noses.

After graduation in 1954, Larry enlisted in the Air Force, following the footsteps of his brother Charles. He spent time in Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio then found himself living at various bases all over the world. Even though the Korean War had ended just before his senior year of high school, tensions were still high throughout the mid 1950's as the Cold War began to ramp up. Larry spent time in upstate New York near Buffalo, where temps were often minus twenty degrees in the winter, with wind chills in the negative 50's. He and his fellow airmen would wear 5 layers of clothes and still be numb. Planes would stick to the runways, frozen in place. The kerosene fuel for the planes would turn to gel in the cold. He missed Plano, Texas. Later he found himself in warmer climates on bases near London--the British girls loved Americans, he said-- and Seoul, South Korea, which must have been unimaginable to a kid from Van Alstyne. Nice places to visit, but he was ready to get back to Texas.

So he did, after his release from the Air Force in May of 1958. He soon crossed paths with Betty again, who had written him letters when he was at Lackland in 1954. In a matter of months they were dating, engaged and in March of 1959, married. They spent their first 2 years of marriage getting the money to buy a house and getting settled in as newlyweds. Then Kevin arrived in 1961, shattering their peaceful lives of sleep and free time. Two more sons arrived later, named Michael and Jason. Larry was thrilled to have three boys. Betty...well, she would have liked at least one girl.

Soon after Jason was born the family moved to Parker, just outside of Plano but a whole different world of two acre lots and not so much as a gas station within several miles. They all enjoyed the lifestyle of living in Parker, and the headaches of living on a 2 acre lot kept Larry busy building fences, planting trees on the barren farmland that their subdivision was built on and making friends with some of the strange characters that lived around them. Betty became city secretary and Larry worked as a supervisor at Texas Instruments as well as Rockwell International and Alcatel. He didn't have a ton of free time but in the early 1980's a new neighbor's idea made sure he would have very little for the next 20 years.

This neighbor was a retired fire chief. He thought it was ridiculous that the Plano Fire Department charged the city so much money to put out a grass fire or work a car wreck. Why not have a volunteer fire department? So the PVFD was born, in the barn next door to the McMenamy's lot. Larry put his handyman skills to work and got the 30 plus year old fire truck they had purchased somewhat close to decent. Over time the city would build a new station near City Hall and Larry would become Fire Chief, a title he retained until 2006 when he retired from the fire department at the same time Betty retired from City Administration.

Retired life meant more free time for sure, but there was always something to do. Larry had loved spending time with his grand kids throughout the 1990's since grand daughter Michelle had arrived--the first girl in the family. Predictably the next four grand kids were boys--Eric, Robert, Ethan and Nick. They all loved spending the night because it meant watching movies, going to McDonald's and swimming all day.

Larry spent his final years loving and taking care of his wife as she became less able to take care of herself. He was also honored to see his first great grandchild, which of course was a little boy named Jaxon. Larry was strong and proud until his last weeks with us, and while we all hoped he would eventually get better and enjoy more time here, his body, and ultimately his wishes lay elsewhere. He was tired and ready to go. And that, painful as it is to all of us, was his choice to make.

Larry was preceded in passing by his wife Betty, his father Mack and mother Ona Belle, his brothers Byron, Lindy, Bobby and Charles, and his sisters, Juanita, Vaunda, Lajuana, Gwendolyn, Theresa and Vivian. Of his once huge family with 12 siblings, he is survived by sister Kathryn Rodgers Farrell.

He is also survived by sons Kevin, Michael and wife Marisol and Jason and wife Renee. Also grandchildren Michelle, Eric and wife Ashley, Robert, Ethan and Nicholas. And last, the final family member for him to love--great grandson Jaxon.