Larry Joseph Patrick Whitford
Obituary
Obituary for Larry Joseph Patrick Whitford
September 10, 1940 – November 12, 2020
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear brother Larry on Thursday, November 12, 2020 from pancreatic cancer at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver BC, at the age of 80 years.
Larry will be forever remembered and missed by his brothers and sisters Bob, June, Elaine, Andrew, Pat (Renaud), Sharon (Gilles), John (Dianne), Leon, Dale, Gwen (Claude) and many nieces and nephews.
Larry was predeceased by his father Andrew, mother Therese, toddler sister Bernice and long- time partner Joan.
Larry was born in Winnipeg and grew up in Amaranth where he enjoyed the outdoors, especially the time when he received his first baseball glove and loved playing baseball. Bob remembers Larry’s nickname, Sunny, and the many things they did together, chores first and then play time. There was one time when Larry and a friend Garry were catching frogs with their homemade nets and photos were taken of them smiling and holding up their catch. Surprisingly, these photos appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press. Larry also loved to run and you could find him jogging around the school yard, a passion he continued into adulthood.
As a young man, Larry moved to Toronto and went to Business College. Sharon recalls his telling her how proud he was of his achievements, attending Success Commercial College as well and having his photo in the college yearbook. He was always so well-spoken and well-dressed. Also, Larry bought Sharon a camera for getting good grades in school and surprised her with it when he visited. She has fond memories of the deep mutual love Larry and mom shared and he would call mom often.
We have so many great memories of Larry. Being the eldest of 12 children, he did not get to spend much time with the younger children and we did not get to know Larry as a younger boy. But as we grew, we had the opportunity to spend time with Larry on his visits home and get to know one another. We would eagerly await his arrival and spend a lot of fun time together playing outdoors and also sitting and sharing many humorous stories of our adolescence.
Larry loved to dance and learned ballroom dancing while living in Toronto where he became a dance instructor, one way to meet some young ladies. One of June’s fondest memories of Larry was teaching us the cha cha when he came home to visit.
When Larry moved back to Winnipeg, he and Bob rented a suite together and it was during this time that Larry met Joan who became his longtime partner. Larry was employed at Century Motors car dealership where he and Bob bought a 1963 Chrysler Saratoga, a fine looking car about two years old. One day, when Larry and Joan drove up, Dale, still a young girl, was very excited to see Larry’s car and jumped in, saw all the push buttons on the dash and proceeded to push all of them. She remembers thinking that he was a big shot. Larry was a caring brother and Dale got to experience his kindness and good advice while dealing with a difficult situation.
On weekend visits the boys loved to hang around Larry sometimes teasing and playing practical jokes on one another and laughing hilariously. He had a nickname for Leon, “Chicky”, which Leon finds special to this day. On a trip with mom to the city, Larry, who was employed with Eaton’s, took Leon to the toy department and bought him a little guitar. What a special surprise from big brother! Leon enjoyed strumming and trying to learn to play a few chords. Larry would bring home his bongo drums and we all had fun playing with them.
Larry smoked a pipe back in the sixties and seventies and John said he always remembers the nice smell of that cherry tobacco Larry used to smoke. Many of us share the memory of that aroma. The boys would take on the job of cleaning his pipe and Larry appreciated the thoughtful gesture.
When Elaine first moved to Winnipeg, she stayed at Larry and Joan’s place for a week and he helped her find her first job and apartment. One day while out with his car they got stuck in a snowbank. Larry put her in the driver’s seat while he pushed the car but Elaine did not know how to drive a standard so that was no help. Larry had a lot of patience with her though and it was a bit funny. She also remembers one weekend when Larry came home to Amaranth for a visit and showed us his award/plaque he had received from Eaton’s store in Winnipeg where he worked as a salesman in the furniture department. He was their top salesman and so happy to receive this award. Larry always came home to visit with us at Christmas and other weekends. Mom was always so happy to see him.
Joan decided to move to Vancouver and Larry followed not long after. While living there, they bought a beautiful white Samoyed dog who was a great companion to them. They loved to take walks to Stanley Park and enjoy playing with their dog. Larry also loved to fish and sent photos of the large fish that didn’t get away. He said he walked around all day showing his catch until he went home and prepared it for their tasty meal.
Andrew remembers having a good time when he and Yvonne (pregnant with Theresa), and Andrew Jr, their little boy, went to Vancouver and stayed with Larry for a month or so and were treated so well. Larry was always so happy to see his siblings and was a great host.
Over the years, Pat and Larry kept in touch with letters, cards and phone calls. He told her how grateful he was to have had the opportunity to serve as an altar boy in his youth. He would type pages of inspirational quotes that he collected over the years and send them to her and their siblings as well as share books he had read. Larry loved to read, enjoyed learning, and shared his knowledge and life experiences with us. He also gave back to his community by donations of used clothing to charity, volunteering his business skills at a local community centre, and assisting where needed.
In 1996, Pat was overjoyed at knowing Larry was coming home to Winnipeg for Christmas. It had been several years since his last visit so she decided to make a “Welcome Home Larry” banner (with continuous dot matrix printer paper) and took it to the airport to greet Larry, along with mom and many family members. That was one of the best Christmases ever, with many photos, dinners and happy get-togethers. Several years later our niece Cynthia visited Larry in Vancouver and that banner was still hanging on his living-room wall.
Gwen’s most prominent memory of Larry was when she and Claude came for a visit at Christmas 1996 and Jocelyn was a baby. There was a family get-together at Pat and Renaud’s home and we all gathered in the rec room downstairs. Music was playing and mom and Larry were waltzing to an old time song. Beautiful!
Larry flew out to Winnipeg to visit family in May 2018. He stayed with Elaine for 2-3 weeks and she loved taking care of him and made chicken alfredo with broccoli one day. He just loved it and there were leftovers he got to have the next day. He really enjoyed the break from his own cooking.
While here, all the brothers, sisters, and some nieces and nephews got to spend time with Larry. Bob and Elaine took him out to our former home town, Amaranth, that Larry wanted to see so badly. Elaine went with him across the road to the old elementary school that was no longer in use, boarded up. She could barely keep up to Larry as he was using his cane and got across the road and over the ditch in no time. He was so excited and told her of his memories as a young lad helping to build part of that school. Then he took some pictures of the school and they walked all around it while he shared more stories. He could recollect many events of the past.
While in Amaranth Larry got to visit with our brother Leon on the old homestead and we now have nice pictures of him and the boys. Then they all went to the cemetery and visited the graves of relatives that had passed on. Larry spoke of them all so kindly. They also went on a tour of the old home town and Amaranth beach.
We are so grateful that Larry got to visit with all the family and take so many great pictures and have some wonderful memories to hold dear.
We love you deeply Larry and we will keep precious memories of you close in our hearts.
Cremation has taken place and a family graveside service will be held at a later date.
Friends and relatives are invited to share in a photo-tribute, memories, and condolences below.
Memorial Donations
In Larry’s memory, donations may be made to Canadian Cancer Society or a charity of your choice.
In Loving Memory
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Larry Joseph Patrick Whitford 2021..
Death notice for the town of: Vancouver, Province: Colombie britanique
Sympathy greetings to all of Larrys family. I have fond memories of Larry and have thought of him over all these years. I am pleased to hear he had a happy life. Our family often has wondered what happened to Larry & where he lived. His sisters did a great job writing his life story. RIP Larry.