My dear friend Larry, there has been a huge vacuum in our classmates' daily emails without you.  I miss you every day and find myself going to my phone to call you before realizing you aren't with us anymore.  I'm sure you are in a much better place than it is down here with all the dissention, crime, and diseases.  Our beautiful country is heading downward very quickly and you would not like it.  Rest in peace, dear Larry.  Your classmate Cheryl

I first met Larry in September of 2011. He picked up Randy and me from the airport and I knew right away that he was just like his son: friendly, funny, generous, talented, and a genuinely good person. The next day Larry was in the hospital with a heart attack. He called me to his bedside and whispered in my ear, "I don't know you, but I love you...because you make my son so very happy. I can't remember the last time I saw him this happy".  I answered, that went both ways; that he raised a fine man, someone to really be proud of. Larry said he only wished that Randy could have had some children. I told him he did! He now has four teenagers who absolutely adore him! This made Larry smile that smile that just melted your heart.

Larry knew how much I loved him and Mary, and I even became Delilah's best friend. Larry knew Randy and I were made for each other. He always welcomed me and the kids into his home and into his life. Larry and I had a special relationship; one that will last past my lifetime through my kids. I only have one regret: I didn't call or email him as often as I should have. Friends of Larry, please, please, don't let life get in the way. Take the time to check in with those who mean something special to you. Send a quick text or email just to be sure that they know you are thinking of them. Take the time to make a quick phone call just to show you care. Don't have regrets. Be positive that those you care for know that you care.
Because they just might not be here tomorrow.

Tribute to Larry Clem from Matt Charboneau - Part 4
So, to all of us left here reading my tribute to Larry, I challenge you to try something different the next time you do some painting at your house.
Leave the protective gloves in the box.
Paint your house, and let the paint get on your hands, and let it soak deep into the grooves around your finger nails.  And when it comes time to clean up, leave a little of that paint on your hands… just leave it there for the day to remind yourself of all the wonderful memories that you and Larry had together. Remember the laughs, remember the fun times and the life lessons he shared with you and let that bring a warm feeling of love to your heart.

Let Larry’s memory fill your soul with the same joy, happiness and satisfaction he got from painting someone’s house, their home and their hearts with all the colors they love.

I will miss you forever Larry…I was homered to know you- hang tight, eventually, hopefully years from now I’ll be taking my big bus ride to the sky… so be patient… I can help steady your ladder while you’re painting God’s summer home up in heaven.  

Feeling great sadness and emptiness… praying for God’s help in acceptance and understanding.

Matt Charboneau


Tribute to Larry Clem Part III- From Matt Charboneau
In his early days, he was that guy that they lowered on a rope and flat board (like a swing) to paint the sides of water tanks. .  “Oh hell, gimme that brush” was one of the best lines he had when he was showing me the right way to hold a brush for a particular paint technique. He wasn’t very patient with the times I wasn’t fully engaged while he was teaching me something, but I always listened to the other, deeper message that he was teaching me, and that was how much he cared for what he did and how important pride was to him. “Accuracy and neatness matters because it’s around forever” he had said to me on more than just a few occasions.  
Not to mention, there was my witnessing the joy and happiness it brought to his customers' faces when they looked at one of his finished paint jobs.  Whether it was some residential customer that he helped out by using leftover paint so it wouldn’t break their budget, or a supervisor at the City whose job it was to verify the paint thickness on the water pipes he’d just finished painting – everybody complimented Larry on his work because it really was better, nicer, smoother, finer and cleaner than any other painters’ work out there.  He was a master of his trade - one like we will never ever see again. Larry, you ran a great race, you loved long, you lived fast and hard and you earned the respect of every person you came into contact with.  You will never be forgotten Larry - your weathered and worn paint-covered, love-filled hands are the visual link to the memory that I and many others will never forget about you. 

Tribute to Larry Clem- ( From Matt Charboneau) Part II
Larry  chatted, we looked at his van, discussed ideas, and naturally I offered up my services to redesign his logo, and set up his business card.  All of this transpired in my driveway, at my house in Fort Collins sometime in the summer of 1986 or so... he was a natural salesperson, one like I had only known in my life on one other occasion.  I also had no idea that this chance meeting during my garage sale was God's way of giving me the gift of Larry, and Mary… a friendship that would grow into a father-and-son-type-of-mentorship for me that taught me life lessons that I will hold dear to my heart and treasure forever.
Larry was a man’s man - a no bullshit, no crap, no dilly-dally kind of man… but underneath that hard shell of a businessman was a heart bigger than his outward love and endless generosity could ever express.  He loved, honored and adored his Mary… she was his very best friend and companion.  You could see it in the way they looked at each other... you could tell it was pure love.  
Everyone he knew in his life was important to him, and he always showed it.  
One of Larry's most enduring qualities was that he would literally give the shirt off of his back to help the people he loved and cared about… sometimes to the point of discomfort for he and Mary… but regardless, if someone he loved was in need, he and Mary were always there with open arms, wallet and heart. 
Whenever I had the privilege of helping Larry with a large painting project, I always came away a better person because of all the life lessons and technical knowledge he would share with me while we worked together. 
He started painting at an age young enough to be considered “illegal in most states”... but he developed speed and accuracy to the point of “earning more money per hour doing piece work than the union painters made”.  (He still chuckled every time he told that story)  

A tribute to Larry Clem - from Matt Charboneau ( Part 1)
It was a sunny Saturday morning, a perfect day for a garage sale and it wasn't too long after I opened that I saw a long brown van pulling up across the street.  Almost immediately the driver's door swung opened and out came this painter-pants-wearing guy with a lanky build and paint splatters covering nearly every inch of his clothing, including his hands.  You could tell by the way he held himself he was self-employed; he owned his own company for sure.  He looked like he not only knew what hard work was; he appeared to be one of the guys who wrote the book on it.  His hair was thick, slicked back and tucked under his painter's cap that had the name of his business screened onto the front… L&R Painting.  He wandered around and futzed with some of the garage sale items that were spread all across my yard in Fort Collins when something caught his eye, and he approached me with it, and made me an offer that was way less than the price I had marked. (hmmm really?  Larry would never do that!... LOL)


My goal was to move items, not pay for my kids college fund, so I agreed to accept his price and that started a conversation that lasted nearly a full hour.  We visited about business, life, work, the economy, and what it was we each did for a living.  
It was during this conversation that he noticed my pants were also covered with paint, but they looked quite different than his; a pattern of colors that was similar to what you see on the pants of a final trim caulker, (finger smudges) but mine were colorful - almost 200 colors at last count.  To the professionals in the painting industry, it gave away my line of work as a sign painter.   Wow, I can remember it to this day...  his eyes opened so wide and he gave me that sideways smirky-smile he was famous for as his attention focused solely on the fact I could paint signs, and the fact that his van needed a sign painted on it.  


Larry started an email group of classmates about 20 years ago.  There were seven of us classmates who wrote every day; one of us died several years ago and now Larry is gone so our group is getting smaller.  Larry was such a loving, generous person and the rock of our group.  We will all miss him terribly.  Our class was very small (about 45 classmates) so we were a very close group and to keep in such close contact was a blessing for all of us and it was Larry who started it all.  Rest in peace, dear friend.  Cheryl Mason

OBITUARY

Larry Eugene Clem

November 25, 1937 – December 26, 2021

Allnutt Funeral Service – Hunter Chapel

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