Dr. Laurence Doc Soderholm G Soderholm Jr.

Laurence was born on October 13, 1930, in Camas, Washington to Laurence and Esther Soderholm. When he was two years old the family moved to Pullman, Washington while Laurence Sr. attended Veterinary School. After Laurence Sr. completed school the family moved to Tillamook and, later, to Tucson, Arizona.

They moved to Hillsboro and his only brother, Paul joined the family. Larry attended high school at Concordia Lutheran in Portland for three years. While attending Hillsboro High School for his senior year, he met his future bride, Dora Mae “Dodie” Tipton. After high school Larry attended University of Oregon for a year before making the decision to follow in his father’s footsteps and move to Pullman, WA. to attend Veterinary Medical School at WSU.

September 10, 1954 he and Dodie were married in Hillsboro at Trinity Lutheran Church. Dodie joined him in Pullman and within their first year of marriage they welcomed their daughter, Wendy, in to the world. Upon completion of Veterinary School the new family returned to Hillsboro and Larry joined Soderholm Veterinary Hospital with his father. The family continued to grow with the arrivals of daughters, Terri and Christy, and son, Mark. He took over the practice when his father opened an Aloha practice. For several years he was the only veterinarian in Hillsboro.

Larry was very active in his community and was known to many as “Doc Soderholm”. He attended Trinity Lutheran Church and later became a founding member of Grace Lutheran Church (now known as Reformation Lutheran Church) where he served in many capacities. Larry was very active in Rotary and the Oregon Veterinary Medicine Association (OVMA). He served on the Hillsboro Utilities Commission, Hillsboro City Planning Commission, and sat on the board of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examiners.

He loved to golf and enjoyed water and snow skiing, camping, handball, boating, attending Blazer games and travelling. In his lifetime he had the good fortune to travel to 33 different countries. Later on, he and Dodie enjoyed trips to Chicago to see his brother and annual trips to Hawaii.

Larry was well-known for his story telling and sense of humor. He loved to socialize and enjoyed going to parties as well as hosting them. He looked forward to the standing breakfast at Elmer’s with other community business owners and friends (breakfast with “the boys”). Family was extremely important to Larry. He was proud of his heritage and enjoyed making extended family connections and attending family gatherings. He especially enjoyed attending his grandchildren’s sporting events.

On December 10, 2015, Larry went to be with the Lord. He will be greatly missed by his wife of 61 years, Dodie; children, Wendy Thompson, Terri Mann, Christy Trotter, and Mark Soderholm; grandchildren, Christopher “Shawn” Mann, Rachael Boehme, Aaron Bass, Jessica Bass, Cole Trotter, Molly Trotter, Dylan Trotter, and Jasmine Savage; great-grandchildren, Tanner Hopkins, Daniel and MatthewVillafon, Dominic Mann, Kaiden Boehme, Waylon Bass, and Audrianna Savage; and brother, Paul Soderholm. He was preceded in death by his parents, Laurence Sr. and Esther; and grandchildren, Jaime and Joel Bass.

Larry will be privately laid to rest in Skyline Memorial Gardens. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 23, 2016 at Reformation Lutheran Church in Hillsboro.

Arrangements entrusted to Skyline Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home of Portland, Oregon.