Larry was born on March 6, 1921, in Pen Argyl, a slate mining town in east central Pennsylvania.  He was raised by a single mother, Pearl Viola Hendershot.  Unfortunately, Pearl died when Larry was twelve years old and was then raised by his grandmother.  He grew up during the Great Depression under very arduous circumstances. 

Larry was extremely smart and graduated with honors from Pen Argyl High School in 1938.  He had an aptitude for electronics and went to work at Ingersol Rand after high school.  He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and went to the Bliss Electrical School in Takoma Park.  He completed various aviation radio technician training programs and was deployed to the Pacific in 1945.  He was involved in the early stages of guided missile technology while on active duty.  He rose to the rank of Aviation Electronic Technician’s Mate First Class.  Larry received his honorable discharge from active duty in December 1945 but remained in the Naval Reserves until 1952.

After the Navy Larry had a very rich and rewarding career.   He worked for the National Bureau of  Standards from 1946 to 1955.  During this time he received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College.  He finished his work with the Bureau of Standards at the Harry Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories and started at Avion, ACF Electronics in Alexandria, VA.  He received numerous awards for his work on developing a miniature telemetering transmitter.

In 1960 he joined the Goddard Space Flight Center at a very exciting time.  He was on a team that successfully launched the first weather satellite in 1964.  He left Goddard in 1967 to manage Aero Geo Astro, a division of Aiken Industries.  Here he developed the Loren-C simulator, a portable generator capable of detecting radar signals from multiple sources.

In 1971 he went back to work for the Navy as a civilian supply specialist in the Naval Sea Systems Command.  Larry retired from U.S. Civil Service in 1982.

In 1964 Larry married Marie Parr MacDonald, a widow from WWII.  They started to share a very happy life consisting of honeymooning in Bermuda, enjoying a brand new house in Seabrook, MD, as well as two brand new Ford Mustangs, taking trips to see satellite launches in Cape Canaveral, and converting Larry’s many business trips into pleasure vacations.   In the 1970’s they added a Scotty Camper to their fleet and took many camping trips all over the USA.  They also became grandparents, which altered their names to Pa and Reo, and did a phenomenal job of enriching the lives of all people surrounding them.

Marie came from a large family and the couple established and maintained bonds with numerous brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.  Larry stayed in close touch with his folks in Pen Argyl so they added this clan to their numerous friends and loved ones.

It was truly sad to see most of these wonderful people disappear as they gradually left us.  By 2012, Larry and Marie, were the last of their generation left.   They will be surely welcome in Heaven and begin again to have a rollicking great time with all their love ones!

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