Lawrence "Larry" Patrick Rizk

Sir Lawrence, aka Larry Rizk, aka Butch, aka Rancey, aka L.P.R. J.M.J, aka Pawtna, aka Mary Gretchen, graduated from life around sunset on Sunday, February 16, 2020. Beloved husband, boyfriend, player, pusher, partner, opponent, instigator, negotiator, Florida Gator, father, son, bro, uncle, coach, confidant, and counselor, Larry was a verb, an action, a state of being; an occurrence.

As a Duval County Parks & Recreations Director, it was Larry’s job to play. His working days were spent instructing kids of all ages in the sacred recreational arts of bound ball, stick ball, ping pong, chipping, putting, pool. If it involved a ball, Larry could tell you how to do it better.

Nevertheless, it was his incalculable zeal for personal responsibility, fairness, and honesty that left a lifelong impression on those fortunate enough to attend his parks. Larry taught hundreds of children that success is a synonym for self-improvement, fueled by practice, and tempered by attitude. The rest is all footwork.

Sometime in the late twentieth century, Larry retired from playing full-time for money to playing full-time for free. With his unparalleled wife, Beverly, Larry established a haven of perpetual fun and occasional light debauchery for players, outlaws, and saints alike. The Rizk estate boasts a plethora of diversions, from mini putting green, to convertible ping-pong/pool table, to flip top dining table/felt top poker table.

The pied piper of people, Larry never met a stranger. To meet him was to befriend him, to befriend him was to play with him, to play with him was to know him, and to know him was to love him. He leaves, in his substantial wake, a Wild Bunch of biological and adopted family, ranging from bag boys to doctors, to carry on his uncompromising legacy of fun -- carved in love, and deepened by laughter and cooperation.

In lieu of flowers, a GoFundMe page (link below) has been established to collect funds for lighting Larry’s neighborhood tennis court, because games should be played, no matter the time of day or night.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-larry-rizk?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=sms&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin, 11801 San Jose Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32223. www.hgmandarin.com (904) 288-0025