Glenn Lee LaRocque

August 21, 1947 – February 10, 2014

Glenn Lee LaRocque was born in Plattsburgh, New York on August 21, 1947 to Joseph Bernard LaRocque and Marjorie Collins LaRocque. He enjoyed his early childhood surrounded by his family and relatives in upstate New York. His earliest memory was of berry picking with his grandmother, Mary Louise Lyman Collins “Nanny” and cousin, Terry Collins. Glenn always remembered that “Nanny” told the boys a scary story or two to make sure they did not wander away.

At age 3, against his wishes, as the story has been told, his father loaded Glenn, his younger brother Clyde, his mother and grandmother into their 1950 Mercury and towed a 33 foot Spartan Royal Mansion trailer all the way to California, entering San Diego along Old Highway 80. They lived in various places around San Diego throughout the years and Glenn made many lifelong friends. In 1963 his family moved to 6949 Sun Street, two doors down from the future love of his life, Joan Patricia Williams. The day they first met, Glenn went home and told his mother he was going to marry that girl someday.

Glenn graduated from University High School in 1965 and soon after enlisted in the United States Army. He volunteered to avoid being drafted so that he could have a better choice of jobs.

Glenn and Joanie were married on February 3, 1968 in the chapel at the Naval Training Center in San Diego. Three months later Glenn was sent to Vietnam for 13 months, where he maintained Bird Dog airplanes for the 220th Aviation Company, in Phu Bai, Vietnam. During that time Glenn Jr was born. After being honorably discharged from the Army as a Specialist 5, Glenn, Joanie and little Glenn, settled back in the house on Sun Street again. Glenn went to work for PSA (now Southwest Airlines) cleaning aircraft. In 1971 he and Joanie added another son to their family, Joseph….Glenn was so proud of his boys!

Family and friends were very important to Glenn, as was spending time in the mountains. Many weekends were filled with family hikes and camping trips in Cuyamaca, Laguna Mountains, Borrego Springs and the favorite of all, Yosemite. In February of 1980, Glenn and family moved to Pine Valley to be closer to the mountains and the trails he loved.

Glenn worked doing maintenance for several companies in San Diego County, most often working alongside his father-in-law Tony Williams. Glenn could take apart and fix almost anything or at least tell you if it was a hopeless cause.

Glenn had many interests throughout his life, hiking, camping, wood carving, poetry, archeology, history, astronomy, fishing, playing the harp, mountain biking, knitting, genealogy, and of course, storytelling.

When Glenn had an interest he went at it full tilt, and in most instances, had one of his family or friends along for the ride. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge with anyone who would listen. As a lifelong Republican, he had his opinions and wasn't bashful about sharing them. Glenn was a Catholic and he was raised to be charitable. He was a kind man who would help anyone in need, but family and friends were who he loved to help the most. He would drop everything to help a friend. Glenn loved to travel, not by plane though, but in his Ford 150. He crossed our country numerous times, putting over 250,000 miles on that truck. He visited historical sites, had a great love of Yosemite, Moab, Four Corners, and many other National Parks, both on the East and West Coast. Glenn and Joanie visited all the California Missions, completing them just two years ago; but visiting family especially in Upstate New York, was his greatest pleasure. There were quite a few years, after he retired, that he would drive back to Clinton County, Upstate New York and stay for three or four months in the spring and summer. He may have only spent his first three years living there but he was a Saranac Boy!

Glenn loved his family. He always wanted to make Joanie happy and side-by-side they traveled here and there and they had great plans to complete Glenn’s bucket list. Glenn even replaced his loved Ford 150 very recently with a new Ford Explorer so that they could travel more comfortably.

If his sons or grandsons had an interest he did what he could to help them succeed. Sometimes he would take up the interest too and try to perfect it, not to compete, but to help his son or grandson do the best they could. That's the kind of man he was, he truly wanted to help others in any way possible.

Glenn was diagnosed with Stage 3C Melanoma in February of 2013 and passed away on February 10, 2014. He didn’t complain about his life, he knew he had lived a good one and knew that he was in God’s hands. Glenn will be extremely missed by his family and friends.

Rest in Peace…