December 14, 1930 - May 7, 2020
Our forty five year marriage was an incredible love story. We were introduced by a colleague that knew us both well. We had so much in common. We were both nurse anesthetists and we both loved The Lord. Larry gave me five loving children and I gave him a love for travelling. The thirteen-year age difference was never an issue until towards the end of his life.
In 1975 we got married on The Queen Mary. Larry was born in Long Beach where she was moored. I was born in British Columbia that is part of the British Commonwealth so we thought it a fitting arrangement to start our married life.
With family in both Florida and North Carolina we made numerous trips to visit. Sometimes we combined it with spending a few days in Miami or Aruba. We both had jobs with plenty of time off and an obligation for Continuing Education. We chose the travel option as part of the Continuing Education program. As a result we visited Russia, Africa, China, and travelled several times to Europe and Croatia. These provided great memories and were always good conversation starters.
In 1978 we received a tax refund from the IRS so we decided to enjoy a dinner out. During dinner I said to Larry, "I guess we can get a new dishwasher now," to which he replied, "I had my eye on a motorhome."
I bit my tongue and counted to ten! Then I decided to call his bluff. Before we left the restaurant we had it all planned. We would buy the motorhome, sell my condo, I would take a leave from the University, Larry would quit his job and we would travel for a year. We put buying a dishwasher on hold.
Fortunately, both sets of parents were healthy, and the children were able to look after themselves. We rented our home to my cousin Bruce who had recently married. We felt that because we always asked the Lord to guide and direct us that this was part of His divine plan. We claimed Proverbs 3:5,6 - "In all thy ways acknowledge him and He will direct thy paths".
We took off the beginning of January 1978 and travelled for three months in Mexico, visited all ten provinces in Canada and forty eight states including Alaska. We missed Kentucky and Hawaii. Along the way we connected with 72 friends and family and colleagues. It made for a lifetime of memories.
Larry loved having fun! We laughed a lot. We hiked so many trails, went on many camping trips with family and church groups. We enjoyed our tandem bicycle and dune buggy trips. We square danced, round danced, ballroom danced and got to love on and hug on lots of grand kids and nieces. We made memories by playing games on the AWANA square at our church.
As our family grew we enjoyed many weddings and babies. We now have twelve grandchildren who have given us four great grandbabies. We enjoy our three nieces and two of their children. I think at last count there is 35 in our immediate family. Everyone is a joy and we used to pray together regularly for each one. I still do. We have been so blessed.
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I started by sharing our very happy life together. Now, I'd like to share a little of Larry's history. Larry grew up in Long Beach knowing he was loved. He worked hard all his life. Larry's Dad was a commercial fisherman and Larry spent a lot of time fishing with him. His dad worked as a garage mechanic when he was not fishing. They ate a lot of fish and garden vegetables.
Larry's brother was born when Larry started college at 17. They were very different. Wilbur had a rock band, he dabbled in the drug culture and was often rescued by his brother. Larry's plan was to go to medical school when he finished college but returning vets from World War II got priority choice of medical school training so he decided to go another route. After three years of community college he went to LA County General for three years and became a Registered Nurse.
This was during the polio era in the 50's and Larry was right in the middle of it working at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, the County Polio center. Many people remember the iron lung as a way of assisting respirations but few knew there were at least six other kinds of external devices. This was Larry's expertise. Often he would be called to ride the ambulance and apply these devices to assist the patients being transported.
Larry married the girl next door and adopted her two little boys whom he adored. They had two more sons when the family decided to transport their family to Spokane, Washington. There he studied Anesthesia at Gonzaga University Hospital. After completing his courses he returned to California and took a job at Artesia Community Hospital in LA as the sole anesthetist. This was a difficult assignment. The family added daughter Tammie to the household of four boys.
By the time I met Larry in 1975 he was divorced from his wife who was living in Florida with the two youngest children.
Larry was going to the Evangelical Free Church in Huntington Beach. After we married it became our home church. We were there when Bob Thune was called to be our pastor. This was Bob's first church since graduating from Talbot Divinity School. So you can imagine how excited we were to have him years later as our pastor here at Southwest, our home church in Palm Desert.
Many of the people in Huntington Beach are still dear friends. We purchased our home in Sun City Palm Desert in 1994. We continued to live here on the weekends and work in Orange County. For 12 years my Mother lived with us and was thrilled to be in the desert with the sunshine. She taught Sunday school at Southwest, enjoyed Bible Studies, participated in small group and paved the way for our transition.
Festival Drive has been an incredibly fun place to live, we have had wonderful birthday parties for both of us. We had lots of visits with family. Perhaps the most memorable party was in 2019 when we enjoyed hosting The American Wedding for our granddaughter Mareesa. It became a great family reunion. Thanks to our wonderful next-door neighbors we were able to extend our yard to accommodate the 75 plus guests that Mareesa and her husband Sid had invited.
Larry had his first heart attack in November of 1994 and had a double bypass at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. Subsequently, he received thirteen stents, a pacemaker and underwent five retina surgeries. Given that medical history you can imagine our surprise when Larry's sciatica became a diagnosis of terminal cancer, fiber sarcoma to which he succumbed on May 7th.
Not only was Larry a wonderful nurse he was also a wonderful patient and always looked forward to his final journey home to be with His Lord.
He and his wonderful smile will be missed by all who knew him. We will never forget that smile!
In Loving Memory,
Marilyn Frank
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