Larry Charles Cada

Larry Charles Cada, age 82 of Lincoln, passed away on Friday, June 9, 2023. Larry was born October 2, 1940, to Jerome and Blanche (Polodna) Cada in rural Clarkson, Nebraska, near the Heun Catholic Church. Larry was the oldest of three sons who grew up on the family farm. He graduated from Clarkson High School in 1958. He attended Wayne State College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. In 1964, he entered the United States Air Force and served seven years as an officer. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain. During his time in the Air Force, he completed his master’s degree with USC, by attending night school at Tachikawa Air Base.

He met his wife, Ruth, in 1964. They were married on September 23, 1967. While stationed in Oklahoma City, Larry and Ruth chose to extend his Airforce service and spent three years in Japan stationed at Camp Drake Army Base, where he was part of the communications support team during the Vietnam War. The base hospital was the staging area to stabilize the victims before being transported to the United States.

Their first two children, Brian and Amy, were born in Japan. The family returned to Lincoln in 1971 and they purchased their first home in the Woodsshire neighborhood in South Lincoln. Their third child, Kevin, was born in Lincoln. Larry and Ruth had been married for 55 years and during that time they were each other’s best friend.

After leaving the Airforce, Larry was hired by the State of Nebraska as a computer programmer in charge of the payroll system. He was a part of the team that developed the N-Focus eligibility system (one of the first computerized welfare systems in the country). As a member of the Production Support Team, he designed, developed, implemented, ran, and distributed reports which tracked key components of the system’s operational performance. A past team member described Larry as “humble, kind, considerate, compassionate, a gentle-giant.” During his thirty-year career, Larry either rode the bus to work and walked home or rode his bike.

Throughout the years, Larry and Ruth stayed very active. They enjoyed fishing, kayaking, and biking together. Larry was not interested in caring for such a large lawn area so with his help, the backyard was transformed and became an organized chaos of bushes, perennial flowers, and a vegetable garden. He kept a well curated lawn, detailed financial records and maintained the vehicles, major appliances, and all electronic components in the home extremely well. He was always available to provide thoughtful and sound advice. He was loving, dependable and very family oriented. He enjoyed spending time with each of his children and grandchildren. He could even be persuaded to join in on a lively game of Pictionary from time to time; but his favorite card games were Taroks and Pinochle. Czech music and all Czech foods were relished, but the weird Czech foods were his favorite. He was a big fan of poppy seed kolaches.

Larry and Ruth honeymooned in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and while stationed in Japan were able to travel to Guam and Taiwan. Larry also went to Hong Kong on a transport plane where he brought back many designer clothes and jewelry. They had many adventurous and memorable trips in most of the United States, Southern and Eastern European countries, Nova Scotia, and New Zealand. For their 40th anniversary, they returned to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Larry was an avid motor enthusiast. He enjoyed learning about cars, engines, and vehicles of all sorts. With the assistance of his family, he even built two Bernardi Kit cars. He was also an avid reader, enjoying both fiction and nonfiction, and had several subscriptions to various science, aviation, car, and news magazines which he generously passed on to his family.

Larry was a real jokester and often shared the latest “dad” joke with his grandchildren. He was often the quietest one in the room and then at the most opportune moment, he would let loose with a witty zinger and a smirk.

Over the years, Larry donated over 28 gallons of blood to the Lincoln blood bank. He was one of the top donators in the State of Nebraska. He also rarely missed attending church. Although Larry will be greatly missed by his family, they are comforted knowing that his faith was steadfast, and he is now at peace in heaven.

Larry is preceded in death by his parents and his brother and sister-in-law, Ron and Bernice Cada. Larry is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Ruth (Emanuel) Cada; children, Brian (Deborah) Cada, Amy Cada, Kevin (Denise) Cada; brother, Glenn (Phyllis) Cada; grandchildren, Evan, Emma, Eli, and Jarod Cada; step-grandchildren, Madyson, Ryan, and Toby Ray; many nieces and nephews, and other relatives.

Graveside service will be later this summer at the Omaha National Cemetery. In lieu of gifts and flowers, the family would like you to perform a random act of kindness; give a smile to a stranger; start a compost pile; teach someone how to fish; read to a child; mow a neighbor’s yard; donate blood.