Larry and I were neighbors and friends from elementary school through high school. We both played trumpet in the school bands and often walked to school together. After school and during summer vacations we played pick-up games of basketball, tag football, and baseball. Larry was a character. He was naturally exuberant and liked to lead school yells on the band bus. He played in the PHHS concert and jazz bands and enjoyed listening to jazz recordings by trumpeters Miles Davis and Maynard Ferguson. After graduation from high school I moved away from Pleasant Hill and lost track of him, but I’ve thought of him from time to time over the years. So long, buddy.
I just noticed that Larry is among those classmates listed as "deceased year unknown." I have a photo I found on the Internet several years ago of Larry at a public event (Victory Outreach Peace Rally) in Antioch on July 26, 2014. He would have been 67 or 68 at the time. Does anyone have more specific information about Larry?
Larry lived across the street from my grandparents on Ellis Ct. We all spent a lot of fun times playing and swimming back in the day. I lost contact with him after my grandma died and my grandfather sold their house in 1972. He had an older brother and younger sister as I recall.
Yes, Larry's older brother was David, and his sister was Cheryl. Dave was a cool teenager, liked rock n' roll, knew the current dance steps. He was usually off doing his own thing, but was pretty nice to the younger kids in the neighborhood. I lived on Putnam Blvd. and climbed our back fence to get to Ellis Ct. There were several kids in the neighborhood who played games in the court, flag football, basketball in the Martin's driveway, hide-and-seek on summer nights. It was a good neighborhood to grow up in. I remember your grandparents' house on the corner.
Tom, this is bizarre as back in 2020 you commented that Larry was listed as deceased year unknown. In any case thru Ancestry I found a listing that he passed June 17, 2022 and is buried at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA. So I'll change it from unknown to 2022.
Larry was my neighbor on Ellis Ct. I remember him as a daredevil often jumping off the roof into the pool. The Carthen pool was open to all the neighbors and we spent most summer days at the pool. His mother worked in Vallejo at the shipyards, a Rosie the Riveter during the war. Like Tom said, it was a fun neighborhood to grow up in... lots of catch basketball at the Martin household, games of horse and baseball in the court often with only four players which meant a lot of running after the ball.
We've all dispersed and only now know of someone's passing when we read it here.
RIP Larry.
I was surprised too that when I thought Larry was deceased, he was still alive! I found the information in Ancestry.com also. Thanks for updating this entry for Larry. He was an SP 4 in the US Army and served in Vietnam.
Tom Webster
Larry and I were neighbors and friends from elementary school through high school. We both played trumpet in the school bands and often walked to school together. After school and during summer vacations we played pick-up games of basketball, tag football, and baseball. Larry was a character. He was naturally exuberant and liked to lead school yells on the band bus. He played in the PHHS concert and jazz bands and enjoyed listening to jazz recordings by trumpeters Miles Davis and Maynard Ferguson. After graduation from high school I moved away from Pleasant Hill and lost track of him, but I’ve thought of him from time to time over the years. So long, buddy.
Tom Webster
I just noticed that Larry is among those classmates listed as "deceased year unknown." I have a photo I found on the Internet several years ago of Larry at a public event (Victory Outreach Peace Rally) in Antioch on July 26, 2014. He would have been 67 or 68 at the time. Does anyone have more specific information about Larry?
Janice Groth (Hoagland)
Larry lived across the street from my grandparents on Ellis Ct. We all spent a lot of fun times playing and swimming back in the day. I lost contact with him after my grandma died and my grandfather sold their house in 1972. He had an older brother and younger sister as I recall.
Tom Webster
Yes, Larry's older brother was David, and his sister was Cheryl. Dave was a cool teenager, liked rock n' roll, knew the current dance steps. He was usually off doing his own thing, but was pretty nice to the younger kids in the neighborhood. I lived on Putnam Blvd. and climbed our back fence to get to Ellis Ct. There were several kids in the neighborhood who played games in the court, flag football, basketball in the Martin's driveway, hide-and-seek on summer nights. It was a good neighborhood to grow up in. I remember your grandparents' house on the corner.
Janice Groth (Hoagland)
Lots of fun times with the Allen and Razzano kids also!
Tom Webster
Larry passed on in 2022 in Antioch, California, where he had lived for many years. He was 75.
Christine Killion
Tom, this is bizarre as back in 2020 you commented that Larry was listed as deceased year unknown. In any case thru Ancestry I found a listing that he passed June 17, 2022 and is buried at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA. So I'll change it from unknown to 2022.
Linda Razzano (Carroll)
Larry was my neighbor on Ellis Ct. I remember him as a daredevil often jumping off the roof into the pool. The Carthen pool was open to all the neighbors and we spent most summer days at the pool. His mother worked in Vallejo at the shipyards, a Rosie the Riveter during the war. Like Tom said, it was a fun neighborhood to grow up in... lots of catch basketball at the Martin household, games of horse and baseball in the court often with only four players which meant a lot of running after the ball.
We've all dispersed and only now know of someone's passing when we read it here.
RIP Larry.
Tom Webster
I was surprised too that when I thought Larry was deceased, he was still alive! I found the information in Ancestry.com also. Thanks for updating this entry for Larry. He was an SP 4 in the US Army and served in Vietnam.
Tom Webster