Obituary of Larry James Koop
Larry Koop, age 76 of Steinbach, passed on to his Heavenly home, peacefully surrounded by family on Thursday, Nov. 26th at St. Boniface hospital. He is survived by his beloved wife Carol, 1 daughter Valrae (Hans), 2 sons, Duane (Janette) and Chad (Darlene), 6 grandchildren (Jasmine, Abigail, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Spencer, and Hunter) , 2 great grandchildren (Audrianna and Daxton), 2 stepchildren, Jonathan (Jackie) and Wendy (Eric) and 2 step grandchildren (Skyler and Sydney). He also leaves behind 6 brothers and 8 sisters. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Patricia and granddaughter Hope.
Dad was a cheerful, energetic guy right from the get-go! He grew up in the Kleefeld area together with his parents and many siblings. He loved spending time out in the woods, trapping and shooting alongside his younger brother Brian. Many a spring day they returned home with boots full of water from their long treks together.
Mom caught dad’s eye in the early 60’s and after dating a few years, they tied the knot on October 25th, 1964. They initially lived in Winnipeg where dad had a job as Parts Manager at Pembina Dodge. They also lived in Elkhorn for a bit while he was doing construction work with his 2 cousins. They welcomed their only daughter Valrae into their little family in December of 1965. Then later on in ’67, Duane arrived and in 1972 while enjoying life in Camrose, Alberta, they welcomed Chadwick who completed the family of FIVE. Dad and mom modelled a very good marriage to us kids. They were very different people … it was like they completed each other. Their love we never questioned, nor the commitment they had to one another. We saw them laugh together, cry and even get upset with each other, but always in a way that we never questioned the solidness of them together as ONE. They Blessed us well and we kids have used their model in our own marriages. Thank You Dad and Mom!!
Dad enjoyed so much in life. He taught himself to play the guitar and we as kids and the grands grew up hearing him play for us. There was snowmobiling especially while living in Camrose where he and Pat were part of the Alliance Church. There they made wonderful friends who holidayed together at Camp Caroline snowmobiling, road trips on the motorcycle to destinations like Banff and Jasper to name a few. Dad also enjoyed building which was a unique link to his construction work in the past. He loved improving the family home(s), taking down walls to enlarge rooms and he built picnic tables, a deacon bench and many other wood projects for the yard and for family.
We remember dad whistling a lot. We would often hear this cheerful sound even before seeing him come into the house at the end of his workdays. Dad was a hard worker and opened up a UAP store in Steinbach after he and mom moved our family back amongst extended family here in Steinbach. He loved every moment of owning his own business (later taking on a partner) until he had to shut the doors as the parent company was pulling out of Manitoba. He taught us kids what integrity was all about when he took out a personal loan to pay everyone what was due them when he closed the store. In the years following, Larry continued to work in Parts Sales with C and J Auto Parts and the role as Parts Manager at Funks Toyota where he worked for 18 years. He really enjoyed these positions and especially the people he was blessed to work with. When he retired, it really meant changing gears. Part of his days in summer could now be spent golfing with his brothers and various close friends and these relationships were so important to him. He loved spending ‘time out on the course’ with the guys. Dad enjoyed football games seeing the Bombers in both their old and new stadiums. Hockey was also an important part of our dad’s life. From playing out on the ice himself, to watching the Jets on TV and in-person, and in the last number of years attending the Steinbach Pistons games cheering with great gusto!
Dad and mom loved to travel, and this was sprinkled all throughout their life. Dad won 2 trips through his work over the years and enjoyed travel to Disney World with family, go on cruises, summer holidays back to Alberta to visit family and friends, and to Clear Lake, Manitoba with family including his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and other special family and friends. After moving back to Steinbach area in the late 70’s, he, Pat, and the kids first attended his home church (Kleefeld EMC), then settling at the SEMC in Steinbach where he remained a member till the end.
Dad went through some hard times during his life. A number of years ago, his dear wife and life-mate Pat was diagnosed with cancer. We watched him, again impressing upon us his kids, what unconditional love looks like as he cared for our mom till she passed on to Heaven into Jesus’ arms. He seemed somewhat lost after she left, his grief raw, and yet he bravely moved forward. He was happy to have his part-time job and friendships at Piston Ring Steinbach where they treated him so very well. One of the responsibilities he had was to deliver parts weekly in the surrounding rural areas. He loved being out on the road! This helped our dad as he grieved and healed. It is important to say that many family members and friends walked alongside him during this time, having him over for a meal, out for coffee, phone calls and texts … he was very grateful for this as were we.
Then one day the sun started to shine again so to speak. An energetic and fun-loving lady from his church started to come into his life. Her name is Carol and she too had experienced such grief as he had. They started to date and it wasn’t long, and they committed the rest of their lives together. We watched as they took life ‘by the tail’ and lived life to the fullest. They travelled to Alaska (cruise with her children), Disney World for their honeymoon (one of his favorite places to travel), a cruise with Carols siblings to the Panama Canal, a ski trip to Banff with Larry’s sister/brother-in-law’s family (the Jenson’s) among other adventures … so much fun! Dad enjoyed showing Carol places that he had been in his life, wanting to share everything with her.
Dad held a very special place in the hearts of each of his grandkids, he was a very special grandpa and he will be sorely missed and remembered with much love.
Carol and us kids want to acknowledge the family and friends who also grieve dad’s passing. He was held dear in their hearts and we know they also will miss him greatly.
Thank you to the Bethesda Hospital and the St. Boniface ICU and their amazing staff for their great care and support while dad was with them. We appreciate you all and continue to pray for your safety and wellbeing.
A private family livestreamed service will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.
To join the family please click the following link at the time of the service. www.oneroomstreaming.com/view/authorise.php?k=160654257387724
Interment will take place at Heritage Cemetery, Steinbach, MB.
Donations in memory of Larry may be made to Southern Health-Santé Sud (In memo line: Bethesda Regional Health Centre) Box 470, La Broquerie, MB R0A 0W0.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Larry
James
Koop 1944 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Steinbach, Province: Manitoba