I met Wally and Diane more than 50 years ago. They were a delightful young couple and introduced me and my wife to square dancing. Wally was what we considered to be a “super tech”. He consistently worked on leading edge technology projects. When I first met him we worked at IBM in a group called Advanced Technology. Our project was a contract for the US Air Force.  Wally was a young and excellent technician and I had just arrived from Germany as a young engineer. He was cheerful and tolerated with good humor my broken English. We established a good relationship and could talk about nearly anything. In those days he was questioning whether he should continue his education. He did go back to school and later graduated from SJ State. We really bonded in our next joint assignment working together for IBM on a program which would change the way of printing from mechanical to xerographic devices. The IBM 3800 became the fastest printer in the world. Wally was involved in developing and testing the printing process. We did run tests, identified problems and found solutions working around the clock in three shifts.  Wally was the key person for the second shift from 4 pm to midnight. We spend endless hours together in the test chamber. There he taught me the game of “heads or tails” which decided who paid for numerous cups of coffee . He was a backbone of our test activities for more than two years. Working together under difficult circumstances did build wonderful relationships. Wally would not hesitate to give me a call any time in the night if there was a problem. Still today when the phone rings in the night I expect to hear Wally’s voice.

Wally was a unique, good and reliable friend.  So it is now time to say: Good Bye my old friend. I will miss you. Where ever you are: Thank you for all you have done and may God bless you. 

Reinhard Wolter 08/21/2022

My sincere condolences to the family.  Wally was a very dear friend for many years.  We first met Wally and Diane in 1969 at square dancing,  which I know was very important in their lives.  He always had a smile and kept things lively!  We loved him like family.  
my love to all,
Ruth Knauff

Scott,  When I joined IBM in 1979 I met your dad and as I was one of the few chemists in the rapidly growing IBM site I was greatly impressed with the skills of all the engineers like Wally. For the most part they were older, more experienced in industry and were nearly all very, very dedicated to their respective projects. Several of us were picked to present seminars at a national meeting in DC, and I recall, even 50 years later, how proud Wally was to be presenting on his project- corona wires.  Like him I was also pretty nervous about presenting a speech in front of an unfamiliar audience, but it all went fine for all the IBM staff presenting.  In that same time-frame I also first met your sister Bambi when she joined the department as a summer student intern.  She was such a pleasure to work with and we became friends. Eventually Wally and I moved to different parts of IBM, and then years later I started attending lunch get-togethers with Wally and some other IBM retirees.  Its was great sharing stories of how we managed through IBM.  Surprisingly I ran into Bambi again at an annual Halloween Party my boss and one of Bambi's former bosses holds and so it was a chance to catch up and talk about Wally and my lunch meetings with him.  Those Halloween  meetings were something I looked forward to each year.   Wally was a wonderful guy and always greeted me so graciously.  He will be missed yet I was lucky to have met him. 

OBITUARY

Wallace Boyd Larson

April 5, 1937 – July 18, 2022

Willow Glen Funeral Home

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Updates

Services