Lawrence Harold Larsen, born July 22, 1939 in Staten Island, NY, passed away on January 19, 2004 from lung cancer. Larry devoted his life to education and knowledge, not only for himself, but everyone. He received his Baccalaureate from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1961, and PhD in Fluid Dynamics from Johns Hopkins University in 1965. Larry always made the most of his time. While working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, he climbed area mountains including Longs Peak. During a National Science Foundation post doctoral fellowship at University of Oslo, he learned Norwegian and skied across Norway.

In 1967, Larry moved to Seattle to take an assistant professorship in Oceanography at the University of Washington. He bought a sailboat almost before finding a place to live. Memories of sunset sailing on Lake Washington persuaded Mary Pat Goldstone to return from study in Yugoslavia to marry Larry in 1968. They raised two children, Karen and Per, in Seattle. Oceanography research brought Larry to China, the Galapagos Islands, and India among other far flung places, and later he applied his analytical knowledge to studying brain waves at the UW Sleep and Aging Research Center. In 1998 he semi-retired to Concrete, WA, and became active with local environmental concerns and the Upper Skagit Library District. Woodworking was a life-long passion inherited from his father Hap. Larry also enjoyed metalworking, fishing, and canoeing the Skagit. His positive energy, understanding of systems complex and mundane, and just plain common sense will be sorely missed, but will continue to influence our lives.
He is survived by wife Mary Pat, children Karen and Per, grandchildren Ethan and Emmanuel, mother Agnes, and brothers Arthur and Kenneth and their families.
Memorial services to be held at St. Martin and St. Francis Episcopal Church in Rockport, WA at 1:30 pm, Sunday, Jan 25, 2004. Remembrances may be sent to: Friends of the Upper Skagit Library, P.O. Box 863, Concrete, WA 98237.
Arrangements and cremation under the care of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley, WA. You are invited to share your thoughts and memories of Larry by signing our online guestbook at www.lemleychapel.com