Larry Clark West

Larry’s life began in Santa Monica, California, on January 4, 1942, and through the years, it would take him across the country and around the globe.

His father was an airline pilot and during his first 15 years, Larry and his younger sister, Linda, moved with their parents from Redondo Beach to Miami, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Bangkapi, Bangkok, and ultimately back to Los Angeles. Most of that time was spent in Thailand, where he learned the language, made friends, explored the jungle, encountered cobras, turtles, and vipers, learned to ride horses, and received a trophy from the King of Thailand for winning a race.

Returning to the States provided him with new opportunities to feed his inquisitive mind and satisfy his wanderlust. He roamed the Santa Monica mountains, had a close encounter with a mountain lion, went scuba diving for abalone, and hunted wild boar armed with a bow and arrow. After graduating from high school, he attended the Department of Defense Language Institute and studied Korean. He was ultimately deployed to Korea where he worked as a translator for the Army Security Agency. While there, he made lifelong friendships, developed a love of classical music and photography, and explored the local culture.

Larry’s next adventures were in academia, which began at Farleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey, and culminated at UCLA. His journey between those two points included some interesting diversions along the way. He and his friend George explored the Baja Peninsula on motorcycles, and somewhere in between he worked as a chemist, first at Rocketdyne, then at Sun Chemical. Photographs from this period have yet to be discovered.

Back in Los Angeles, Larry got married, became a father, earned his Master’s Degree in Linguistics, began a career as a computer systems analyst at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, moved to Seattle, helped raise two sons, made new friends, lived on a sailboat, explored the magnificent outdoor offerings of the Pacific Northwest, learned to tie flies, went fly fishing, took amazing photographs, spoke several languages, and was a mentor to many. He finished his career at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Lab and retired in 2014.

In 2001, Larry found his forever and always love, Lisa. They married in 2003 on the island of Kauai, accompanied by friends and four generations of family. They had twenty-two glorious years together, traveling to places near and far, restoring and renovating their 1913 Craftsman home, buying another sailboat, trying to learn Italian, trying to grow tomatoes, selling the sailboat, attending sons’ weddings, welcoming grandchildren into the world, celebrating with family, listening to beautiful music, enjoying good food and wine, and spending countless hours at the beach with Cezanne, their beloved yellow lab.

Larry's passing has left a huge empty space where he used to be, one that only he could fill. Life is much less sweet and not nearly as interesting without him in it. We will hold each memory close and treasure them, forever and always.

Larry is survived by his loving wife Lisa, sons Phil (Katie) and Eric (Emily), stepsons Jason (Nina) and Trevor (Tracy), sister Linda (Ron), niece Lauren, nephew Scott (Christy), former wife Lise, grandchildren Noah, Lucas, Emmeline, Matthew, Olivia, Jason Jr., Alanna, Jeremy, and Dade — and his devoted Cezanne.

A celebration of Larry's life will be held at Acacia Memorial Park & Funeral Home at 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 17, 2023. Friends and family are invited to share memories and stories which will be followed by an inurnment ceremony with military honors, and a reception with food, wine, and more memories. In lieu of flowers or donations Larry would ask you to consider spending time doing something you love or being with someone you love, or even better, doing both.