Our anniversary (Darlene's and mine) was the day before Larry passed away. I hadn't looked through that album in years, but this year I did. This photo was taken at our reception in Plymouth, Michigan, 1977. (You can see Uncle Vince and Aunt Marian in the background. Nice tan, dude! Shaking Uncle Vince's hand was like sticking your hand in a vice. Not sure who that is behind them.) The star over the eagle (we called it a "crow") together with the three chevrons down and the "rocker" the crow appears to be standing on, indicate he was a senior chief petty officer (his rate) at the time. The lightning bolts inside the chevrons indicate his rating; he was a radioman. The four hash marks indicate he had at least 16 years of service, one for each four years. (He was closer to twenty at the time, and retired with five.) The gold hash marks and chevrons indicate "good conduct" during all those years, otherwise they'd be red. We can't see his ribbons in this shot or I could tell you about them, too. Over the hash marks you can just make out the left tip of his Dolphins; they indicate he was a qualified submariner, a rare, and magnificent breed of sailor, if I do say so myself! Bonnie is sitting next to him. We loved them all. Thinking about you on this sad day. 



Larry was my cousin. He’s the reason I joined the Navy in 1976. He was a diesel boat and nuclear submarine sailor, a radioman. He retired from the Navy shortly after I joined. He was my recruiter and my role model. He was the reason I volunteered for submarines. When I qualified in submarines in 1977, he sent me his Dolphins (the warfare device we wear over our left breast pocket in uniform). I was proud to wear them. They are in my retirement sea chest today. By shear happenstance, we served on the same boat about 15 years apart, USS FINBACK (SSN 670). She was a fine warship, and oh, the stories we could tell. But we are the Silent Service. Let me just say this, Larry was a no-kidding Cold War hero at a time when this nation faced grave nuclear peril.  When we needed him most, when all our lives danced on a razor’s edge between life as we know it now and nuclear annihilation, Larry stood the watch waiting for the message that would send us to war with the Soviet Union. He might not have slept a wink for 13 days in October 1962.  When I became a chief of the boat, we call them COB, the senior enlisted chief petty officer in a submarine crew, he sent me a note of congratulations and told me to stay in the Navy for 30 years, so I did. It was the best advice I’ve ever gotten from anyone, ever. Senior Chief Larry Jarvis, my cousin, my mentor, my Chief. I will miss him. Fair Winds and Following Seas, Larry. Sailor, Rest your oar. We have the watch. To your family go Our Deepest Sympathies. Love, Bill and Darlene Lapham

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In addition to his parents, Mr. Jarvis was preceded in death by his wife of 44 years, Bonnie Lee Jarvis, son: Robert David Jarvis, brother: Terrance Jarvis and sister: Mickey Schaefers. He is survived by his children: Jaynee Vanderheym (Rogers), Vincent L. Jarvis III (Sherry Lynn), Dan Jarvis (Gwinnell), and Laura Jarvis, brothers: James Jarvis and Christopher Jarvis (Michelle), sister-in-law: Lynne Jarvis, 16 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

OBITUARY

Vincent "Larry" Jarvis Jr.

November 12, 1940 – May 29, 2019

Ott-Laughlin Funeral Home

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