Lloyd Robert Larson

Lloyd Robert “Bob” Larson passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 28th in his room at Aldersly Garden Apartments in San Rafael, California, at the age of 98. His son and daughter-in-law were by his side. Born on October 22, 1919, in the farming town of Tolt, Washington, Robert was the third of four children of Charles Larson, a dairy farmer and a native of Sweden, and Ida Haarala Larson, a native of Finland, both of whom emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s. In 1940, Robert left his hometown to join the Army Air Corps as an aviator. He spent a career of nearly 30 years in the Army and then the Air Force, when it was created in 1947, as a fighter pilot, including assignments in post-war Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, Washington D.C., and Marin County, California. He retired with the rank of colonel in 1969 and became a stock broker in Marin County for approximately 15 years. Upon full retirement from the work force, he volunteered with the California State Park on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, often leading hikes and explaining the geology, plant life and wildlife to the many state park visitors. He was featured in Backroads magazine and was designated “Volunteer of the Year” for his work on Mount Tamalpais; Robert often said the volunteer work was the “best job he ever had.” Robert Larson out-lived his first wife, Mary Ida (LeBrou) Larson, the mother of his five children, and his second wife, Phyllis (Phinney) Larson. Two of his children, Mary Susan, and Robert William, also pre-deceased him. He is survived by his son, David Larson of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, his daughters, Jane Larson and Kathryn Holdren, both of Columbus Ohio, seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. Robert Larson lived a long, full life, and made the most of every day with an active sense of humor to the very end.