March 7, 1956 ~ November 4, 2014
Larry Anderson was many things: straight-shooting, principled, resourceful and intelligent, a heavy duty mechanic, a trucker, a builder, a carpenter, a farmer, a father, and, he often said, “just a guy.” He was born in Niagara Falls to Marion and Laverne Anderson (December 8, 2013). His siblings are Wray (Maxine), Sharon Chesham (Richard) and Kevin.
Larry spent his boyhood summers on his grandparents’ farm and dreamed of becoming a farmer. At 17, he lied about his age to join the Navy, and ended up on the West Coast two years later, where he jumped ship and found a job laying sidewalks in Victoria. His first son Lawrence was born there when Larry was but 19. Larry moved to Port Alice where he worked some seven years as a heavy duty mechanic in the logging industry and fathered Ryan, Erin and Crystal. He never forgot the pounding rains, the fishing and the bears on the porch.
Larry saw opportunity in Sechelt and relocated his household. He commuted up Sechelt Inlet to logging camps for a few years, and then started a trucking career at the local building supply, in part to create more time at home. He built up a fleet of trucks and worked for nearly 20 years happily serving the people of the Sunshine Coast. He fathered Kelsey and later Quinn. In 2004, Larry met Henrie de Boer. Their mutual spark and sauce made for instant rapport, and after a whirlwind courtship of five long months, they married. They purchased an old homestead up the Sechelt Inlet, where they lived off the grid, with boat access only, for eight years. Boats, generators, waterline, firewood, the orchard and garden, the elk and the wolves, the reconstruction of the old home – life was full.
Larry and Henrie sold the homestead in 2012, keen for new adventure, and moved to the farming community of Agassiz, to a 100-acre organic farm on the Maria Slough. The tractors, combines, barns, chickens and good people have been a homecoming – Larry was blissfully happy, and at home, on a farm. And then he had a five-week intense and painful bout with cancer. His passing quelled his pain, but robs his wife, his friends and family of a very fine and much loved man.
A memorial will be held on Sunday, November 30, at the Seaside Centre in Sechelt, from 2pm until 4pm.
In lieu of flowers, Larry would have you donate to Doctors Without Borders.